A year ahead of elections in Chhattisgarh, Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh head Mohan Bhagwat unveiled the statue of the man who initiated the Gharwapsi program among tribals in Jashpur.

The 12-foot statue, was shaped by Ram V Sutar whose earlier creations include the Statue of Unity of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel in Gujarat and the Statue of Prosperity of Nadaprabhu Kempegowda in Bengaluru.

The unveiling of the statue is being seen as an attempt by the BJP to revive both Judeo’s and its own influence in the state.

Prabal Singh Judev son of Dilip Singh Judeo said “it’s a great honor for his father that the statue was unveiled by RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat”  

Judeo was born on March 8, 1949, into the erstwhile royal family of Jashpur. Judeo’s father, Raja Vijay Bhushan Singh Deo, was the last ruling prince of Jashpur.

He was also called as ‘Kumarsaheb’ among the tribals in and around the Jashpur district. Dilip Singh Judeo was a two-term MP from Bilaspur and a three-term Rajya Sabha MP. He was also the Minister of State for Environment and Forests in Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s government.

Judeo, the king of the erstwhile Jashpur princely state, gave the Gharwapsi process an interesting twist by making the act of the king washing the feet of the tribals a mandatory part of the process. Judeo was credited for having strengthened the BJP’s presence in Chhattisgarh with his contribution to the Akhil Bharatiya Vanvasi Kalyan Ashram that worked with tribals. He was sometimes referred to as the Chhattisgarh tiger

Dilip Singh Judeo took his last breath in a private hospital in Gurgaon on August 14, 2013, at the age of 64 years. He was admitted at the because of a liver-related ailment.

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