NTR Health University renamed after YSR

Vijayawada: The State Government paved way to a new political controversy - a raging one at that - here on Tuesday by unanimously passing a Bill by voice vote in the Assembly to rename the NTR Health University after the late YS Rajasekhar Reddy. The move triggered protests from the TDP leaders across the State who cried foul over the exercise.

The Bill was introduced in the ongoing Assembly session and it was passed in a jiffy with Chief Minister Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy defending the move as apt and "without any ill will towards a stalwart like NTR". Former Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu demanded to know the justification for the same as "36 years had lapsed by now".

Asserting that he had no disrespect for NTR, Jagan Mohan Reddy said the move to rename the university was done after much thought to give due credit to Rajasekhar Reddy.

Intervening during the motion on passing the Bill, the Chief Minister said Dr YSR, a practicing medical doctor before joining politics, had been a pioneer in taking quality medicare to the common people with his innovative Aarogyasri besides introducing the 108 and 104 ambulance services in the State. His own government was adding 17 medical colleges to give a fillip to medicare in the State, the Chief Minister said. "It means that 20 of the 28 medical colleges would dot the State due to the efforts of YSR and mine", he said adding that the credit should hence be given to YSR.

He also attacked TDP national president N Chandrababu Naidu by saying that he "usurped power from his father-in-law and who never recommended NTR for Bharat Ratna". In a statement on Wednesday, Chandrababu Naidu asked "what connection did YSR have with the University" established in 1986. Chandrababu felt that deleting the name of the late NTR to the health university reflected the defeat of the YSRCP Government and that the TDP strongly opposes this. Chandrababu demanded that the NTR's name for the university be retained at any cost.

He stated that the late NT Rama Rao established the university with a view to having a separate head of the institution for medical education and after his demise in 1998, the then TDP government named the university after him.

"Even YSR did not think of renaming it," he added.