HYDERABAD: Sharply contradicting the viewpoint that BRS chief and former chief minister K. Chandrashekar Rao had expressed in a speech, whose video went viral on Monday, former IT minister and pink party working president K.T. Rama Rao questioned the relationship and contribution of former prime minister Rajiv Gandhi to Telangana.
While Rama Rao made the remarks while expressing his opposition to the Congress government’s decision to install a giant statue of the former prime minister near the Secretariat, Chandrashekar Rao’s public acknowledgement that it was indeed Rajiv Gandhi who as a visionary had laid the seeds for software and the foundations for Cyber Towers, which ushered in the hi-tech industry in Hyderabad, enabling it to bloom into a technology powerhouse it is today, proved to be its sharpest rebutal.
The BRS on Monday challenged the government decision to unveil a statue of Rajiv Gandhi, with Rama Rao saying, "What is Rajiv Gandhi’s relationship with Telangana? If the Congress wants, it can install his statue in Gandhi Bhavan."
He also threatened to undo the move, saying, "... when we are back in power, we will remove the statue. We replace it with that of Telugu Talli, as per the original plan of BRS government.”
Rama Rao told reporters that there was nothing that Rajiv Gandhi had done for Telangana, or that at least he had no knowledge of any such thing. "Not only will BRS remove Rajiv Gandhi statue from opposite the Secretariat, but we will also rename international airport and cricket stadium by removing Rajiv Gandhi's name," Rama Rao said.
However, in a video that went viral, Chandrashekar Rao is heard saying, “...seeds for the Cyber Towers were sown by Rajiv Gandhi and then Chief Minister N. Janardhan Reddy. This is history. I am saying this because I know the truth.”
Several experts, historians, political analysts and former senior journalists that Deccan Chronicle spoke to said it was wrong to say Rajiv Gandhi had made no contribution to Hyderabad and Telangana. They pointed out that the former PM’s contributions by launching C-DoT that laid foundations for developing of computing, telecommunication, software industries had helped Hyderabad become what it is today in the tech field.
Among the other contributions of Rajiv Gandhi to India, of which today’s Telangana is a part, were fruits from six technology missions launched during his reign covering telecom, water, literacy, immunisation, dairy and oilseeds.
Other significant achievements of the Rajiv Gandhi administration were the reduction of voting age from 21 years to 18, initiating steps that brought peace to Mizoram, Assam and Punjab, according to Mohan Guruswamy, a former financial adviser at the Centre, and Dr Sanjay Baru, media adviser to former prime minister Dr Manmohan Singh.
Both renowned political analysts and commentators, known for their astute observations on various policy matters and issues, said, “While on the domestic front, Rajiv Gandhi’s contributions are several, little known is his outreach to China following the 1986 Chinese incursion into Sumdorong Chu valley, in what was then known as North East Frontier Agency (NEFA). In 1987, in a show of resolute determination to the Chinese, the NEFA was given full statehood as Arunachal Pradesh by the Rajiv Gandhi administration. After Jawaharlal Nehru’s meeting with Mao Zedong, Rajiv’s meeting with Deng Xiaoping was considered a huge foreign policy initiative in cooling temperatures between two countries."
Rajiv Gandhi also stopped the original plan of the Srisailam Left Bank Canal (SLBC) tunnel project which could have destroyed a large swathe of Nallamala forests, which is today the Amrabad tiger reserve, an ecological pride of Telangana. He also initiated process to give Constitutional status to panchayats, and municipalities, and introduced Navodaya Vidyalayas in all districts. It was Rajiv Gandhi whose government introduced PCOs, (public call offices), and STD facilities, which brought telephony to every Indian, across towns and villages.
"Rajiv Gandhi also had a strong personal connection with Hyderabad. He was based here as a pilot for Indian Airlines. Like most common Hyderabadis, he was actually an employee here, and earned a salary of around `5,000 in those days," reminded another analyst.
