Statues are symbols of political legacy

Speculation rife over Jagan group's reaction to unveiling of YSR's statue by Congress

July 07, 2011 11:51 am | Updated August 18, 2016 02:12 pm IST - VIJAYAWADA:

The statue of former Chief Minister Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy coming up at the Police Control Room centre in Vijayawada. The gaigantic structure, with a replica of the Polavaram Project forming the base, blocks the view of traffic flow. Photo: Ch. Vijaya Bhaskar

The statue of former Chief Minister Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy coming up at the Police Control Room centre in Vijayawada. The gaigantic structure, with a replica of the Polavaram Project forming the base, blocks the view of traffic flow. Photo: Ch. Vijaya Bhaskar

History may repeat itself in the politically hyper-sensitive city where statues have always been symbols of political legacy.

A new statue of former Chief Minister Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy is ready for unveiling and it remains to be seen whether the YSR Congress followers in the city would prefer to be silent spectators to the proposed Congress spectacle.

Andhra Pradesh Congress Committee president Botcha Satyanarayana is to unveil it on Friday, but the programme has been cancelled. It is to be seen how the YSR Congress leaders react to it.

The cost of installing the majestic statue was borne entirely by the Rajagopal Foundation. Vijayawada MP Lagadapati Rajagopal has the backing of the Lanco group of companies and is one of the participants of the padayatra taken out by Dr. Reddy, which is said to have brought the Congress back to power after a nine-year stint of Telugu Desam rule.

Caught in crossfire

Ironically, Dr. Reddy was himself caught in the crossfire of such a legacy war when he came to the city as CLP leader to unveil the statue of Vangaveeti Mohana Ranga Rao.

The cost for installing the statue was borne by Mohana Ranga Rao's ardent followers in the Congress led by Malladi Vishnu.

The widow of Ranga Rao, Ratnakumari, who was TDP MLA, had opposed it. She even pre-empted Dr. Reddy by getting her son Radhakrishna, then a teenager, unveil the statue.

Ms. Ratnakumari's followers also lobbed ‘goli-soda' bottles at the CLP leader when he came to unveil the statue later.

Mr. Radhakrishna and Mr. Vishnu clashed again on the 20th death anniversary of Mohana Ranga Rao (2008) when the latter draped the statue with a Congress flag. Mr. Radhakrishna, who had quit the Congress to join the Praja Rajyam Party (PRP), removed the flag and his followers attacked Mr. Vishnu's office that was nearby.

The way Mr. Vishnu stood up to Mr. Radhakrishna won him the admiration of many Mohana Ranga Rao's followers.

This translated into votes in the Assembly election. Mr. Vishnu got only a slim majority with which he won against Mr. Radhakrishna in a constituency that voted Mohana Ranga Rao and his family members, including his son, four times to the State Assembly.

More recently, YSR Congress activists vied with Congress workers to “purify statue with milk” over a trivial issue.

The police had to close the curtains on the matter by arresting leaders of the YSR Congress.

0 / 0
Sign in to unlock member-only benefits!
  • Access 10 free stories every month
  • Save stories to read later
  • Access to comment on every story
  • Sign-up/manage your newsletter subscriptions with a single click
  • Get notified by email for early access to discounts & offers on our products
Sign in

Comments

Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide by our community guidelines for posting your comments.

We have migrated to a new commenting platform. If you are already a registered user of The Hindu and logged in, you may continue to engage with our articles. If you do not have an account please register and login to post comments. Users can access their older comments by logging into their accounts on Vuukle.