Despite uproar, Congress decides to install new Telangana Thalli statue at Secretariat

Government to install new statue inside Secretariat on December 9 in connection with Congress Parliamentary Party chief Sonia Gandhi’s birthday celebrations

Hyderabad: Despite uproar over the proposed changes to the Telangana Thalli statue and State Emblem, the Congress government is going ahead with its plans and unveiling a new statue in the Secretariat without taking into confidence all the sections.

A row had erupted after the Congress government announced its plans to make changes to the Telangana Thalli statue and the State Emblem. Following this, the State government, during a Cabinet meeting in February, had decided to constitute a Cabinet Sub-Committee to hold discussions with all stakeholders, including public and seek their suggestions in making the changes.

Accordingly, on March 12, the subcommittee held its first meeting at the Secretariat under the chairmanship of Deputy Chief Minister Bhatti Vikramarka Mallu. Ministers Tummala Nageswara Rao, Komatireddy Venkat Reddy, Seethakka and Konda Surekha, who are members of the Cabinet Sub-Committee, also attended the meeting.

During the meeting, instructions were issued to officials for shortlisting eminent artists and intellectuals and to explain the concepts, facilitating them to come up with designs for the emblem and statue. The Deputy Chief Minister had reiterated that the State Emblem should reflect democratic aspirations of people and the statue should reflect the common woman of the State.

However, post the meeting, it is still unclear as with whom the Cabinet sub-committee had interacted with and what were the suggestions made by them. If the meetings were held, the suggestions made by the stakeholders and the designs of the Telangana Thalli statue and State Emblem have not been made public so far, for reasons better known to the officials.

This apart, the government faced severe criticism from different sections in August, when the Greater Warangal Municipal Corporation (GWMC) used an unofficial State Emblem on the LRS banners at its helpdesk. Similarly, on November 5, RTA officials of Jogulamba Gadwal had also used an unofficial Emblem on a barricade put up at the border checkpost. However, following the criticism, the banners and images were removed at both the locations.

Undermining the people’s emotion towards the Telangana Thalli and State emblem, the Congress government is installing a new statue inside the Secretariat on December 9 in connection with Congress Parliamentary Party chief Sonia Gandhi’s birthday celebrations.

To this effect, the Baahubali gate at the main entrance has been removed and new roads are being laid inside the complex. Roads and Buildings Department is executing the statue installation works.

These unilateral decisions are being opposed by the BRS. Coming down heavily on the Congress government, MLC Deshapathi Srinivas said people did not ask for any changes in the Telangana Thalli statue or State emblem. The Congress, in a grudge to wipe out the imprint of the past government, was making such unwanted changes, he said.

Already, Telangana Thalli statues have been installed at several crossroads in villages, towns and urban areas across the State. Will the people replace those with the new statue, he asked, adding that these changes would promote political mileage but would not reflect the true aspirations of the people.

Further, MLC Kodandaram had participated in many Telangana Thalli statue unveiling programmes in the past. If he had any reservations and objections, he should have raised those then. Just because he now has differences with BRS Chief K Chandrashekhar Rao, he cannot remain calm over the unwanted changes being made by the Congress government, Srinivas stressed.