Hyderabad: The Congress on Tuesday, January 30, slammed Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) MLC K Kavitha on her demand to the state government that a statue of anti-caste reformer Jyotiba Phule should be installed in Telangana Assembly premises.
State IT and Industries minister D Sridhar Babu questioned the MLC on why the previous government led by BRS did not install the statue despite being in power for 10 years. “Why didn’t she ask KCR to install the statue?” he asked.
The minister said that Kavitha’s demand has emerged in the context of the soon upcoming Lok Sabha elections, in order to gain “political mileage.”
“The premises of the Assembly function fully under the Speaker and the council chairman. Isn’t the council chairman from the BRS?” he asked.
Kavitha had recently met Assembly Speaker Gaddam Prasad Kumar and demanded that a statue of Mahatma Jyotirao Phule be installed in Assembly premises.
A round-table conference organized was organised by Kavitha on Friday, January 26 which reached a consensus urging the state government to place a statue of Jyotirao Phule on the grounds of the State Legislative Assembly.
Kavitha also urged the state government to install Phule’s statue by April 11, which marks the social reformer’s birth anniversary.
Additionally, she has been advocating for the conferment of the Bharat Ratna on Phule and the organization of a maha dharna to push the central government for various other measures related to the welfare of BCs (Backward Classes).
