This becomes evident every year when the country’s first Prime Minister is remembered on his birthday on November 14, which is celebrated as Children’s Day.

While both the government and private offices across the state celebrated the day with much fanfare, in central and south Gujarat, the occasion was marked by paying floral tributes to the leader's photo in the absence of statues.

Those at the helm of affairs at the municipal corporations in Vadodara and Surat said that there was no proposal to install Nehru's statue. Reacting to this, Congress office bearers and senior leaders admitted that it was a major lapse on the part of the party and that it has failed to popularise its own political icons like Nehru.

“It is true that there is not a single statue of Nehru in the entire city. We have never received any request or proposal from any individual, organisation or even political parties to install it. As far as celebrating Children's Day is concerned, we do it by offering flowers to his framed photos,” said a Cultural Committee official of the Vadodara Municipal Corporation.

In Surat, too, where statues like the Laughing Buddha and abstract art forms have been installed at several traffic points, Panditji is missing. The city of traffic islands does not even have a single bust where at least a garlanding ceremony can be held. Even the Congress members bring along their own Nehru photograph and garland those on the occasion.

“Yes, the city does not have a single statue of Nehruji. No one ever seriously thought about it,” said Surat Congress president Sunil Bhukhanwala.

Similarly, Vadodara city Congress president Suresh Patel admitted that this issue was never discussed. “In the last two years, no proposal in this regard has been made and neither has the issue been discussed at party meetings. Nobody actually thought about Pandit Nehru's ‘absence’ in the city.”

“It is indeed sad that we do not have a single statue of his. Now, we would think of having one in Vadodara,” said Maulin Vaishnav, who has installed several statues through a trust in the city.