Lucknow, Aug 7 (IANS): The Samajwadi Party is preparing to erect a statue of Parashuram, believed to be the sixth avatar of Lord Vishnu, in Lucknow.

Former SP minister Abhishek Mishra said that a 108-feet-tall statue of Parashuram would be erected in Lucknow and a grand temple would also be built, besides an educational research centre.

Mishra said that the project was still being finalised and the 'Parashuram Chetna Peeth' would supervise the project which would be completed through crowdfunding.

"We are yet to finalise the sculptor and the site where the statue will be installed. The educational research centre will be patterned on the Gurukul concept," he said.

Asked whether the SP was closely involved in the project, he said, "I am a part of SP and it is obvious that the party is a part of the project. Contrary to claims, SP is not averse to the Brahmin community. It was the Akhilesh Yadav government that had declared a holiday on Parashuram Jayanti and this was later cancelled by the Yogi Adityanath government."

He said that it was the Akhilesh government that had built the Janeshwar Mishra Park in Lucknow and installed a larger than life statue of the Brahmin leader in the park.

The move to erect the statue of Parashuram, a Brahmin icon, is apparently an attempt by the Samajwadi Party to win over Brahmins, who constitute about 11 per cent of the population in Uttar Pradesh.