Telangana Talli statue to be unveiled on Dec 9

Hyderabad: A giant size Telangana Talli statue would be unveiled in the Secretariat on December 9 in a grand manner on the lines of Million March, which was conducted during the intensified agitation for separate Telangana with a gathering of nearly one lakh people.

December 9 is the date when the then Union Home Minister P Chidambaram had announced initiation of the process of Telangana state's formation in 2009 and it is also the birthday of Congress Parliamentary Party chairperson Sonia Gandhi, who realised the decades-old demand of Telangana statehood.

Stating this after laying the foundation stone for a statue of Telangana Talli, the Chief Minister said that they would be inviting Sonia Gandhi for the event.

In a veiled attack on the previous BRS regime, the CM said those who were in power for 10 years claimed to have built many important buildings or structures but neglected the Telangana Talli. The previous rulers behaved in such a way that they are more important than Telangana Talli and that they symbolise the state itself, he said.

Taking on the previous BRS government, he said though it had presented about Rs 22.50 lakh crore budget in the last 10 years, steps were not taken to install the Telangana Thalli statue, which would have cost just about Rs 1 crore. Noting that the Telangana Thalli statue should reflect pride and stand as a source of inspiration, the CM said the responsibility of designing the statue has been entrusted to the department of JNTU Fine Arts College.

Revanth said some vested interests tried to exploit the place in front of the Secretariat for their own selfish purposes. On the suggestion of the intellectuals, the government had decided to install the statue of Rajiv Gandhi but the BRS leaders were making a mountain out of molehill.

He recalled how Telangana people were barred from entering the Pragati Bhavan and Secretariat. While Pragati Bhavan was a restricted fort, the then CM never came to the Secretariat. Now he and his council of ministers were running the government from the Secretariat and Praja Bhavan has been thrown open for the common man. People should see and feel the difference in governance of 10 years of BRS and the last nine months of Congress government, he said.