Hyderabad (Telangana) [India]: Telangana Chief Minister Revanth Reddy on Tuesday paid floral tribute to late Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi in Somajiguda, Hyderabad on the occasion of his birth anniversary.
The Chief Minister, while addressing the gathering spoke about the plans to install a statue of Rajiv Gandhi in front of the state Secretariat.
During his address, he also criticised Bharat Rashtra Samithi leader KT Rama Rao.
“Son of Indira Gandhi, Grandson of Jawaharlal Nehru and this country’s former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi’s statue was to be installed in front of Secretariat but some people are claiming that they will remove that statue,” said the Telangana Chief Minister.
Explaining further, the Telangana CM claimed that KTR wanted to have the statue of his father installed instead, “When I inquired what is the problem with the statue? Then I got to know that he (KTR) wanted to install his father’s (KCR) statue there”.
“The family which brought freedom for this country, family who sacrificed their life for this country, family which formed Telangana state, for inspiration it’s fair to install Rajiv Gandhi’s statue in front of Secretariat beside Martyrs Memorial,” added the Chief Minister.
“I wanted to say this, if anyone has courage then come and touch the Rajiv Gandhi statue. Will you remove the statue of Rajiv Gandhi who gave his life for the country, just for the sake of your father’s statue?,” said the Chief Minister while addressing the gathering.
CM Reddy also spoke about the issue of erecting the statue of Telangana Talli (mother) during his address and announced that the statue will be installed on December 9.
“For ten years you couldn’t install the statue of Telangana Talli, how come you have the moral right to speak about Telangana? On December 9th, 2024 Telangana Talli statue will be installed inside the Telangana secretariat and we will take that responsibility,” added CM Reddy.
BRS leader K Kavitha in April had urged the Revanth Reddy-led Congress state government to reconsider the decision to erect the statue of former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi as the land was initially earmarked for installing a statue of Telangana ‘Talli’.