Dalit bodies join Congress in demand for Ambedkar statue installation  

HYDERABAD: The demand for the installation of a Dr B.R. Ambedkar statue in Punjagutta grew shriller as several Dalit organisations joined the chorus of Congress leader V. Hanumantha Rao.

In a meeting, Dalit leaders passed a resolution urging the state government to install the statue at a designated place it was previously installed in 2019, before the police seized it due to lack of permission.

The recent court directive to the police to return the statue to Rao reinvigorated the demand among Congress leaders and Dalit organisations. In the Tuesday meeting, Rao was felicitated for winning the legal battle and recovering the statue.

The meeting was attended by revolutionary poet Gaddar, AICC secretary S.A. Sampath Kumar, former MPs Aziz Pasha and Mallu Ravi, former MLA and Kisan Cell leader M. Kodanda Reddy and Dalit leader Raju Ustad, among others.