Telangana Government has decided to celebrate the inauguration of Telangana Talli statue in the State Secretariat, the seat of State administration, on a grand scale on December 9, 2024, coinciding with the announcement of the process for carving out a separate State the same day in 2009.
Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy said the Government planned to organise a massive meeting, on the lines of million march, at the time of inauguration of the Telangana Talli statue. The Chief Minister was speaking after performing Bhumi Puja (ground breaking ceremony) for the statue in front of the secretariat building, within the premises, on Wednesday (August 28, 2024).
He said though the Government had plans to organise the ground breaking ceremony on a grand scale, it could not do so as there were no auspicious days till Dasara except for Wednesday. With Deputy Chief Minister Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka was on a visit to Kerala and Ministers were busy with their engagements, the Government had organised the ceremony in a hurried manner in view of the advise given by vedic scholars.
Mr. Reddy recalled that senior Congress leader Sonia Gandhi kept the promise she made in a meeting in Karimnagar and took the decision to create a separate Telangana. In an indirect jibe at the Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS), he said the party that ruled the State for close to a decade between 2014 and 2024 made tall claims on developing infrastructure on par with global standards. But the powers that be neglected Telangana Talli statue. “People behaved as if Telangana was their fiefdom. The Congress Government is against such practices and had hence, opened the doors of Praja Bhavan, earlier Pragati Bhavan which was guarded by heavy posse of police, to the common man,” he said.
He said the Government had decided to install Telangana Talli statue in the secretariat as it was the heart of the State administration where all the decisions pertaining to governance are taken. The previous Government did not allow people to represent their issues in the Secretariat for a decade while the Congress Government gave an opportunity to people to represent their issues to the Government.
“Why did the previous Government, which introduced a budget of ₹22.5 lakh crore during its rule, not consider installing Telangana Talli statue which would cost less than ₹1 crore in the Secretariat?” he wondered. He referred to the statues of Dr. B.R. Ambedkar, Indira Gandhi, T. Anjaiah, P.V. Narasimha Rao who worked for the State and the country, around Secretariat and Necklace Road and said absence of Rajiv Gandhi’s statue had left a void in the area.
It was therefore decided to install a statue of the former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi in front of the secretariat in the coming days. “Some people tried to utilise the space in front of the secretariat for their personal interests. But we have decided to install Rajiv Gandhi’s statue after consulting experts and intellectuals,” he said recalling how the decision was sought to be politicised by linking Rajiv Gandhi’s statue with Telangana Talli’s statue.
Mr. Revanth Reddy recalled that he had announced his intentions to install the statue of Telangana Talli on June 2 itself and it was accordingly, decided to design the statue in such a manner that it reflected the culture and aspirations of the people. “The statue should not have symbols of autocracy,” he said adding the Government had entrusted the task of finalising the design to JNTU Fine Arts College principal who was son of the soil.
