Telangana Talli statue unveiling will be on the lines of Million March on Dec. 9: CM
Hyderabad: Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy announced that the Telangana Talli statue will be unveiled in the Secretariat in the presence of lakhs of people on December 9. This historic event will be organised on the lines of the Million March that was taken out on Tank Bund during the statehood movement in 2011.
The Chief Minister performed bhumi puja for the installation of Telangana Talli statue in the secretariat premises amid chanting of Vedic hymns by priests on Wednesday.
He said that the government had planned to organise the puja in a grand manner but Vedic scholars had advised that there were no auspicious days till Dasara. It was for this reason that the bhumi puja was performed in the absence of Deputy CM Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka, who is on Kerala visit, and some ministers, who are preoccupied with their respective official programmes.
The achievement of Telangana state is a testament to the determination and perseverance of Telangana movement activists, Reddy said while praising AICC leader Sonia Gandhi for fulfilling the 60-year aspirations of Telangana people.
The formation of Telangana state in 2014 is a matter of pride for all and it should be inscribed in golden letters in the pages of history.
He said that those who had ruled the state from 2014 till the last Assembly elections had boasted they built a Telangana that was a role model for the world, he said.
He took a broadside at the BRS government for neglecting Telangana Talli and criticised them for acting as if Telangana was their property.
The Congress-led people's government is against practicing such policies, the Chief Minister said, reminding that Telangana people were barred from entering the heavily barricaded Pragati Bhavan. Today, it has become an example for the country as people are permitted to move around freely in Praja Bhavan, he said.
The government has been taking all decisions related to the state administration after giving people opportunities to express their problems here. People were also barred from entering the Secretariat by the BRS government, he said.
The last government presented `22.50 lakh crore budgets during its 10-year rule but failed to spend even `one crore to install the Telangana Talli statue in the Secretariat premises.
The statues of Dr. B.R. Ambedkar, Indira Gandhi, T. Anjaiah, P.V. Narasimha Rao, G. Venkataswamy and S. Jaipal Reddy, who contributed a lot for the country and the state, were installed around Necklace Road and Tank Bund but the statue of former prime minister Rajiv Gandhi is missing. Some vested interests tried to exploit the place in front of the Secretariat for their own selfish purposes. Now on the suggestion of intellectuals, the government is installing Rajiv Gandhi's statue. He fumed that this move was being politicised.
Reddy said that he had already announced the government's decision to install Telangana Talli statue in the Secretariat on June 2. He said that it was a long cherished wish of the people to have Telangana Talli statue as it reflects the image of the state's mother and the cultural ethos of the stat. He said that as the statue should not symbolise aristocratic characters, the JNTU fine arts department has been entrusted with the responsibility of designing the statue as per the wishes of Telangana people.
Reddy recalled that the UPA government led by the then prime minister Dr Manmohan Singh had announced the initiation of the official process of the formation of Telangana on December 9, 2009. Since Sonia Gandhi's birthday is celebrated on December 9, the government decided to unveil the Telangana Talli statue on the same day this year.
"I am fortunate that such a wonderful event is being organised by our government", the Chief Minister said adding that he was lucky to participate in the historic programme.