Shimla, Sept. 18 -- The statue of Virbhadra Singh, who remained the chief minister for six times, will now be unveiled at The Ridge in Shimla on October 13. This was stated by Himachal public works minister Vikramaditya Singh, who is also the president of the Raja Virbhadra Singh Foundation. At present The Ridge has four statues, Mahatma Gandhi, former PM Indira Gandhi, Dr YS Parmar, the state's founder chief minister, and the recently established one of former PM Atal Bihari Vajpayee besides a bust of former lieutenant general Daulat Singh. The statue was to be unveiled on Virbhadra's birth anniversary on June 23. However, the unveiling of the statute was initially deferred due to non-availability of the party's senior leaders and then owing to inclement weather. "This is a historic event and a tribute to the leader of the masses and we wanted participation of the party high command as well. The unveiling was originally scheduled for his birthday, June 23. However, in light of the heavy rainfall and natural disaster in Himachal, and the massive loss of life and property in the state, the Trust members unanimously decided to postpone this important ceremony," said Singh. The statue of Virbhadra Singh was supposed to be installed on The Ridge on July 23, 2023, on the occasion of the former CM's birth anniversary, but in February 2024, after the Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu-led Congress government had declined to give an NOC to install a six-ft-tall statue of the former CM on the road, which led to Vikramaditya resigning from the state cabinet. After his resignation was not accepted, he had decided to stay on. Ultimately, the statue came up outside Shimla at Sainj, in Kumarsain in Himachal in June 2023. The statue was inaugurated by deputy chief minister Mukesh Agnihotri while Sukhu remained conspicuous with his absence from the event....