We Won't Honour Gaddar with Padmasri: Bandi Sanjay

Referring to Chief Minister Revanth Reddy's displeasure over the Padma awards being given to only two people in the State, Union Minister Bandi Sanjay today said that the State government had indeed sent proposals to confer the Padma Shri award on eminent personalities including Gaddar, Chukka Ramaiah, Andesri, Gorati Venkanna and Jayadheer Tirumala Rao, but that the Centre would not give awards to everyone whose name was sent by the State government and that it would give awards only to those who were eligible.

Speaking to media persons, Sanjay also made sensational comments about Gaddar. "The Padma awards are given to those who have the status. How do we give it to Gaddar? What is his ideology? How can we give awards to those who killed the BJP workers and policemen? He sang songs praising the people who killed the BJP activists. How can we give a Padma award to such a person?" he said.

At a time when several Congress leaders, including CM Revanth Reddy, have expressed their displeasure over Telangana receiving only two Padma awards, Sanjay's latest remarks have become a topic of discussion in Telangana politics.

Sanjay also said that if the names of the Central welfare schemes were changed by the State government, the Union government would not keep silent.

"The Centre is fully cooperating in the development of Telangana, and in the last 10 years the Centre has spent more than Rs 12 lakh crore on the State. All the development in the villages of the State has been done with the Central funds. However, the Congress government of Telangana is seeking to take the credit for that by naming the schemes after its own leaders," he said.

"We have no objection to welfare schemes being implemented with State government funds being named after anyone. If the Congress wants to, it can give the names of Osama bin Laden and Dawood Ibrahim to its own welfare schemes. But the names of the Central government welfare schemes cannot be changed by the State government. What's wrong with the name Garib Kalyan Yojana? And why is the Prime Minister's photo not put up on the Yojana materials? If this continues, Garib Kalyan Yojana and even other schemes including Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana will be implemented directly by the Centre without the involvement of the State government. We request the State government not to bring the situation to such a pass," he added.

He also criticised the manner in which the State government was implementing its schemes, asking what the point was of selecting just one village of each mandal for the implementation of schemes. He said that it was demeaning to the people of the State to roll out schemes only for one village per mandal but claim that that would benefit all the people of the State.