TG CM to unveil Rajiv Gandhi’s statue

Hyderabad: Amid continued political slugfest between ruling Congress and BRS, Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy will unveil the statue of former PM Rajiv Gandhi in front of the Secretariat.

This will be another major political event by the assertive ruling party vis-à-vis the main opposition, the BRS party. Both the parties remained at loggerheads for the past few days over the issue of selection of the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) chairman of the State Legislature.

Earlier in August, the BRS leadership was taken aback by the decision of the present government to install the statue of Rajiv Gandhi at the spot purportedly earmarked for Telangana Talli. The decision has set off a heated exchange between Revanth Reddy and BRS working president K T Rama Rao. Rao vowed to erect the statue of Telangana Talli at spot after coming to power, by replacing Rajiv Gandhi’s statue. “In four years we shall form the government under the leadership of KCR. The statue shall be removed with all due respects and Telangana Talli will be installed there,” affirmed former Minister KTR.

However, the Chief Minister who announced that the Telangana Talli will be installed within the premises of Secretariat remained assertive about the ruling party’s position that the statue of Late Prime Minister will be installed at the same spot. He also alleged that the spot was actually earmarked for the statue of former CM K Chandrasekhar Rao, in a sarcastic tone. “For past 10 years they have failed to install the statue and KTR hopes that the spot can be reserved for his father’s statue. However we are executing this task within 10-months after coming to power. The Telangana Talli statue will be installed on Sonia Gandhi's birthday on December 9, which coincides with the then Union government’s official announcement on Telangana. We will prove that we are true heirs of Telangana Talli,” he asserted.

Rubbishing the claims of KTR about his party coming to power in next elections reminded him how the pink party which was reduced to 39 seats in Assembly was routed in Lok Sabha. “In 7 seats you lost the deposits and in 15 seats you were reduced to third position. How are you hoping to get back to power ?,” he asked, at an event on August 22.