Samajwadi Party leader Azam Khan has welcomed the idea of Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister's likely announcement of a 150-metre tall Lord Ram statue in Ayodhya. 

Khan, speaking to news agency ANI, said that Lord Ram's statue, the announcement for which is likely to be made by CM Yogi during his visit to Ayodhya on Diwali, should be constructed taller than the recently inaugurated 182-metre Sardar Vallabhai Patel's statue.

"Why did this thought not occur at the time of building the statue of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel? Why would anybody oppose (the building of Lord Ram's statue)? I would want an even taller statue of Lord Ram in Rampur," said Khan.

According to reports, the saints in Ayodhya have been pressing for construction of a statue of Lord Ram similar to that of the Statue of Unity.

The Lord Ram statue is likely to be built near the Saryu river in the temple town of Ayodhya.

On October 31, Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated a 182-metre statue of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel overlooking the Narmada river in Gujarat as a tribute to the country’s ‘Iron Man’.

The Prime Minister recalled the Congress leader’s contribution in unifying the country after independence as he brought more than 500 princely states on a common platform to join the Union of India.

“Without Sardar, we would not have imagined a railway line from Kashmir to Kanyakumari,” Modi said.