VHR Asks KCR For Ambedkar Statue At Punjagutta

Senior Telangana Congress leader V Hanumantha Rao today demanded that the state government install a statue of B R Ambedkar at the Punjagutta cross-roads in the city before the latter's next birth anniversary on April 14, and threatened to go on a fast unto death if his demand was not fulfilled.

Speaking at a party conference at the Press Club of India in Somajiguda to discuss the matter, the septuagenarian leader claimed that he had already procured a statue of Ambedkar from Rajahmundry to install at Punjagutta, but had been prevented from doing so by the police who had shifted the statue to a police station "for no reason".

He urged Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao and his government to install the statue, and said that if the CM failed to do so, he would approach the SC, ST Commission to resolve the issue, and would even stage a dharna outside the Parliament to protest the TRS government's casteist attitude.

Telangana CPI secretary Chada Venkat Reddy too asked the government to agree to Rao's demand, and said that the CPI was extending complete support to Rao's cause.