BRS opposes move to instal Rajiv Gandhi statue at traffic island earmarked for Telangana Talli statue

K.T. Rama Rao opposes Rajiv Gandhi statue in Telangana, vows to replace with local stalwarts, criticizes Congress Government.

Working president of the Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) K.T. Rama Rao has strongly opposed the Telangana Government’s decision to install a statue of former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi in front of the State Secretariat Building, on the traffic island created for the purpose of installing ‘Telangana Talli’ statue.

Speaking to media persons here on Monday (August 19, 2024), he said on coming back to power, the BRS government would shift the Rajiv Gandhi statue to another place of choice of the Congress party and install the Telangana Talli statue there as planned from the beginning of the Statehood movement.

Mr. Rama Rao said the BRS Government had the largesse to continue the name of Rajiv Gandhi for Aarogya Sri scheme, Karimnagar highway, international airport, IIIT and Uppal stadium, but the Congress Government was acting in a manner to hurt the sentiment of Telangana people and the BRS would not tolerate it. The BRS Government in future would replace all such names with those of stalwarts of Telangana.

“Airports, major bus-stations and other important structures have the names of local/regional stalwarts either it is in Bengaluru, Mumbai, Chennai or any other city in the country”, he noted and said such facilities would be renamed in Hyderabad too in future and suggested the Congress Government to withdraw its plans to install Rajiv Gandhi statue in the space earmarked for Telangana Talli statue in front of the Secretariat building.

Asked for his response on Minister Sethakka’s (D. Anasuya) remarks on the atrocities against women in Telangana from 2014 to 2024, the BRS leader said it was their (BRS) government that took initiatives such as introducing She Teams, Bharosa Centres, Women Safety Wing, She Shuttles and others. He mentioned that the doctors protesting on the Kolkata junior doctor’s incident demanded for justice in the lines of Disha case.

Reiterating that he had apologised to women already for a comment he made as a “slip of tongue”, the BRS leader demanded Ms. Seethakka to order an inquiry into atrocities against women during the last eight months if the government was committed to the cause of protecting women.

Expressing pain at not having his sister, MLC K. Kavitha, with him on Rakhi festival, he hoped that she would get justice in the Supreme Court.