Hanumantha Rao demands reinstallation of Ambedkar statue

Hyderabad: Senior Telangana Congress leader V Hanumantha Rao has demanded the statue of Dr BR Ambedkar, which was removed from Panjagutta Centre in the city in April 2019, should be reinstalled and said he will protest at Jantar Mantar in the national capital if his demand is not met.

“If Ambedkar had not written Article 3 in the Constitution, Telangana would not have been formed. I have written a letter about this to President, Vice President and Speaker. This issue must be discussed in the ongoing winter session of the Parliament. If our demands are not met, I will stage a protest at Jantar Mantar in Delhi and even after that if it’s not met, I will die for the cause,” Rao told ANI.

Rao said that he met the Commissioner for the reinstallation of the statue.

“I had gone to meet the Commissioner and asked that the statue should be reinstalled. They refused. I bought another statue from Amalapuram in Andhra Pradesh and unveiled it in June 2019. It was removed and was instead put at a police station,” he said.

He said a statue of Dr Ambedkar was installed at Panjagutta on April 12, 2019 in Hyderabad and it was vandalized on April 13. “When I got to know about the incident, I went there and staged dharna till evening, I was accompanied by Manda Krishna Madiga, Ramulu Naik and other leaders of the Congress party,” Rao said.