Telangana Leaders Pay Floral Tributes To Ambedkar

Leaders cutting across party lines today paid rich floral tributes to the architect of the Indian Constitution Dr B R Ambedkar on his 126th birth anniversary.

Telangana Deputy Chief Minister Mahmood Ali, Home Minister Nayani Narasimha Reddy, Finance Minister Etela Rajender, Animal Husbandry Minister Talasani Srinivas Yadav and Excise Minister Padma Rao, Union Minister of State for Labour and Employment Bandaru Dattatreya, TRS MLC Farooq Hussain, AICC Secretary V Hanumantha Rao and Telangana Joint Action Committee Chairman Kodandaram were among those who garlanded the statue of Ambedkar at Tank Bund.

They recalled the services of Ambedkar and vowed to follow his ideals.

Speaking on the occasion, Etela Rajender said that the TRS government was following the ideology of Ambedkar and implementing various welfare schemes. "Our government is functioning along the lines of the Constitution and we are spending adequate funds for providing pensions to the eligible," he said.

From the Oppposition, Telangana Congress President N Uttam Kumar Reddy, Working President Bhatti Vikramarka, senior party leaders Danam Nagender and Anjan Kumar Yadav, BJP Telangana President K Laxman, floor leader in the Assembly G Kishan Reddy and MLC N Ramchander Rao, TDP State President L Ramana and Working President Revanth Reddy, CPM State Secretary Tammineni Veerabhadram and YSR Congress Party leader Y V Subha Reddy also paid tributes to Ambedkar.

Speaking on the occasion, Uttam Kumar Reddy said that the Congress would go ahead on the path shown by the Constitution's architect. He said that the TRS government was not following social justice concepts in its rule by not fulfilling the assurances given by it before elections.

Kishan Reddy said that Ambedkar's Constitution had opposed giving reservations based on religion, but the TRS was bringing in a bill giving reservations to Muslims against the norms. The BJP would oppose it, he said.

The Left parties led by Tammineni Veerabhadram along with leaders of other parties came in a rally from Basheerbagh Press Club and garlanded the statue of Ambedkar. They demanded social justice for the minorities, SCs, STs and BCs, and also alleged that the Centre and the state governments had failed to deliver on the basic needs of the common people.

MRPS President Manda Krishna Madiga and his followers also offered tributes to Ambedkar. Later they staged a protest demanding that the Centre categorise SCs into A, B, C and D. He said that the MRPS would intensify its stir to mount pressure on the Centre in this regard.