The 119{+t}{+h}birth anniversary of revolutionary freedom fighter Alluri Seetharama Raju was celebrated, for the first time as a State festival at the place of his birth at Pandrangi village, on the outskirts of the city on Monday.
Union Minister of Civil Aviation P. Ashok Gajapathi Raju, Minister for IT, Information, Public Relations and Minority Department Palle Raghunadha Reddy, garlanded the statues of Alluri Seetharama Raju and that of his mother, which were erected at the ancestral house of his mother, where the revolutionary leader was born in 1897.
The houses have been renovated and converted into a memorial. The Ministers paid rich tributes to Seetharama Raju. Zilla Parishad Chairperson Lalam Bhavani Bhaskar, Visakhapatnam MP Kambhampati Haribabu, Joint Collector-2 D.V. Reddy and former MLA R.S.D.P. Appala Narasimha Raju were among those who paid tributes. The Police Band was in attendance as the leaders paid tributes.
The Ministers formally inaugurated the Alluri Park, the construction of which was taken up at an estimated cost of Rs.3 lakh at Pandrangi. Schoolchildren presented cultural programmes depicting the life history of the legendary freedom fighter and his supreme sacrifice while fighting against the tyranny of the British rulers in the Agency areas of Visakhapatnam district.
Later, addressing the gathering, Union Minister Ashok Gajapathi Raju recalled the sacrifices made by the revolutionary freedom fighter. Only those sacrifice their lives for the nation with selfless zeal would be remembered for time immemorial and Alluri Seetharama Raju was among the forerunners, who had made the supreme sacrifice.
He called upon the youth to draw inspiration from the life of Alluri and strive for taking the nation on the path of progress with their independent and innovative ideas.
Mr. Raghunadha Reddy said the 119{+t}{+h}birth anniversary of the revolutionary freedom fighter was being observed in all districts of Andhra Pradesh as the State government had declared it as a State festival.
Though several freedom fighters had made sacrifices to oppose the tyranny of the British, Alluri was among the few who had sacrificed their lives while fighting the British rulers from trampling upon the rights of the people of India. He announced that an auditorium would be constructed at Pandrangi in memory of Alluri.
Mr. Narasimha Raju said Panchayat Raj Minister Ch. Ayyanna Patrudu had sanctioned Rs.6 crore for construction of a bridge across the Gosthani River in Pandrangi village.
Revenue Divisional Officer Venkateswarlu and Pandrangi Sarpanch R.S.V. Kumar Raju were present.
