Telangana Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy on Monday, September 16 unveiled the statue of former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi in front of the state Secretariat and slammed the Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) for opposing its installation. He questioned whether BRS chief K Chandrashekar Rao's family was aware of the sacrifices made by the Gandhi family for the country.
Referring to the threats of BRS leaders that they would remove the statue of Rajiv Gandhi after their party came to power again, the Chief Minister dared them to touch it.
Earlier, BRS working president KT Rama Rao said the place where Rajiv Gandhi’s statue was installed was meant for the statue of Telangana Thalli (Mother Telangana). “Mark my words Cheap Minister Revanth. We will clear out the trash ( referring to Rajiv Gandhi statue) from the surroundings of Dr BR Ambedkar secretariat the very same day we are back in office. Can't expect a Delhi Ghulam like you to ever understand self-respect and pride of Telangana,” KTR wrote on X.
Responding to this, Revanth Reddy said his government gave due place to Telangana Thalli by recently laying the foundation stone for the statue in the Secretariat premises and reiterated that the statue will be unveiled on December 9.
KTR's criticism was in the backdrop of Rajiv Gandhi's rebukal of former United Andhra CM Anjaiah. BRS had also been critical of installing Rajiv Gandhi’s statue near a park named after Anjaiah. In 1982, Rajiv Gandhi, who was the then Congress general secretary, had visited Hyderabad. Anjaiah, a Congressman along with party workers, welcomed him at the tarmac of the Begumpet airport. The welcome prompted Gandhi to dub the CM a ‘buffoon’ which till date comes up as a grave insult to Telugu and specifically Telangana pride. The incident led to the Telugu Aatmagowravam (self respect movement) spearheaded by NT Rama Rao (NTR).
The Chief Minister paid rich tributes to Rajiv Gandhi and said he laid down his life for the country. He claimed that Rajiv Gandhi had accepted the post of Prime Minister for the sake of the people and recalled that he lowered the voting age to 18 years.
Recalling the words of Mahatma Gandhi that India lives in its villages, Revanth Reddy said Mahatma Gandhi’s dream was fulfilled by Rajiv Gandhi through the 73rd Constitutional amendments, which gave financial powers to the villages by empowering panchayats. The Chief Minister said Rajiv Gandhi politically empowered women and introduced Information Technology in the country.
Stating that the Gandhi family’s history is full of sacrifices, he recalled that Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru went to jail for the freedom of the country. He said it was Nehru who protected India’s integrity by ensuring the merger of 564 princely states into the country. When there was bloodshed in the country due to communal violence, Nehru with his visionary approach established peace and it was Nehru who laid down the foundation for India’s future by giving priority to education and irrigation, he said.
Revanth Reddy remarked that "some useless fellows" talk about political succession and mentioned that when Nehru was alive, Indira Gandhi did not take up any post.
"Even today, the poor worship Indira Gandhi as a goddess. It was Indira Gandhi who worked for the poor’s development by nationalising banks and abolishing privy purses. She distributed lands to enhance the self-respect of Dalits, tribals and other weaker sections. It was Indira Gandhi who fulfilled the poor’s dream of owning a house by building Indiramma houses. She shed her last drop of blood for the sake of the country." he said.
Ministers Uttam Kumar Reddy, Damodar Rajanarasimha, Ponnam Prabhakar, Sridhar Babu, Komatireddy Venkat Reddy, Seethakka, Konda Surekha, AICC in-charge Deepa Dasmunshi, state Congress chief Mahesh Kumar Goud and others attended the programme.
(With inputs from IANS)