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The petitioner Juluru Gaurishankar said that the modified statue hurts the sentiments of the people of the state.
Old image of Telangana thalli and New image of Telangana Thalli. (Image: X/ @amitmalviya)
A Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) worker has filed a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) in the Telangana High Court against the installation of new and modified statue of Telangana Thalli (mother of the state) on the premises of the Secretariat.
The petitioner Juluru Gaurishankar said that the modified statue hurts the sentiments of the people of the state.
BRS, BJP Slam Congress
A political tussle broke out between the ruing Congress and opposition parties, BRS and BJP over images of the new statue of Telangana Thalli. BRS leader KT Rama Rao slammed the Revanth Reddy government saying that several elements that represented the ethos and culture glory of the state were missing in the redesigned statue.
He further pointed out that the new statue lacked several key features that were present in the original design including the crown. He said that the crown of the goddess, which symbolises the pride and self-governance of Telangana, has was gone. The traditional floral festival Bathukamma, which represents the cultural heritage of Telangana, was absent.
Revanth should stop playing with Telangana’s identity!The Telangana Thalli statue is a symbol of our identity, created through consensus among Telanganites from all sections during the Telangana movement.
To assert our identity, thousands of Telangana Thalli statues were… pic.twitter.com/ZXdD47UftK
— BRS Party (@BRSparty) December 6, 2024
The party said that CM Reddy should stop playing with the identity of Telangana.
BJP IT cell chief Amit Malviya also hit out at Congress government for hampering with the state’s cultural identity.
Malviya said that in the modified image, the saree colour of the goddess was changed from pink to green. Further the government added the Abhaya Hastam (symbolizing the Congress logo) in the new image of goddess, replacing with the Bathukamma.
In a post on X, he said, “As the Congress government in Telangana marks its first anniversary, here is a striking example of an attack on the state’s cultural identity. The @revanth_anumula led Congress government has altered the depiction of Telangana Thalli, the revered Goddess of Telangana: Changed the saree color to green; Removed the Bathukamma; Removed the crown and jewellery; and Added Abhaya Hastam (symbolizing the Congress logo).”
As the Congress government in Telangana marks its first anniversary, here is a striking example of an attack on the state’s cultural identity.The @revanth_anumula led Congress government has altered the depiction of Telangana Thalli, the revered Goddess of Telangana:
➡️… pic.twitter.com/jOdtReCdAw
— Amit Malviya (@amitmalviya) December 7, 2024
The BJP leader further said that no one should forget that CM Reddy once called Congress veteran Sonia Gandhi the “Mother of Telangana.”
“This is deeply shameful,” he added.
Telangana Govt to Invite KCR, Union Ministers for Inauguration
Meanwhile CM Reddy is scheduled to unveil the statue on December 9, which also marks the birthday of Sonia Gandhi, as part of the Congress government’s ongoing first anniversary celebrations.
On Friday, the government sought time from Union Ministers G Kishan Reddy, Bandi Sanjay Kumar, as well as BRS president K Chandrasekhar Rao, to invite them for the inauguration.
The new Telangana Secretariat was constructed during the previous BRS regime after demolishing the old buildings, which had been built during the undivided Andhra Pradesh era.
