CM Revanth to Hold First Praja Darbar, Building Renamed Jyotiba Phule Praja Bhavan

HYDERABAD: It wasn’t quite the storming of Bastille, but the symbolism was there for all to see. The strong steel-barricaded cage manned 24x7 by a posse of police officers, and lined for good measure with muscle-shredding concertina wire in case anyone was foolish enough to try to force their way in, and which stood as a testimony to just how inaccessible Pragathi Bhavan, the office-cum-residence of former Chief Minister K. Chandrashekar Rao was since February of 2017, was brought down on Thursday.

The building is believed to have cost '50 crore to construct as per an RTI response in 2022. The final cost of construction and maintenance was never made public by the previous BRS government.

The work that began in the morning to remove the barricades and concertina wire continued into the evening with the Congress government, led by Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy planning to hold the first-ever praja darbar since the formation of Telangana at Pragati Bhavan — renamed Jyotiba Phule Praja Bhavan — on Friday morning.

Minister Ponnam Prabhakar, who joined his colleague Duddilla Sridhar Babu to brief the media about the new government's first Cabinet meeting, said, “Removal of the barricades marked the beginning of a people’s government and democratic rule in Telangana.”

Bringing down the impenetrable barrier was a promise made by Revanth Reddy who during the election campaign had promised that he would tear it down once the Congress won the elections and formed government. On Thursday, soon after taking oath as Chief Minister, he declared that even as he was speaking at the LB Stadium where the ceremony was being held, the barricade was being taken down.

In scenes reminiscent of statues of unpopular leaders being toppled by people, be it in Russia, Iraq, or elsewhere, officials of the GHMC — assisted by the very police who would not even allow the aged or infirm pass through the barricaded section of the road outside Pragati Bhavan and forced them to negotiate their way on the very busy road that usually bristles with traffic — worked double time to bring the barricades down.

The spectacle saw people stopping by, watching the goings on, even as some people began walking past through the barricaded section with some also making their way on to the driveway of the edifice.

The work that began in the morning took many men, armed with gas cutters, earth moving machines, and pneumatic drills, and nearly 12 hours before the sidewalls that were brought down and removed before the heavy ceiling that covered the barricade. Work is expected to continue into the night.