The statue of Damodaram Sanjivaiah on the traffic island opposite Public Gardens here received no garland from Chief Minister N. Kiran Kumar Reddy this year on the occasion of the late Dalit leader’s 92nd birth anniversary on Thursday.
Deputy Chief Minister C. Damodar Rajanarsimha and APCC president Botcha Satyanarayana, who followed suit, also refrained from garlanding the statue of India’s first Dalit Chief Minister from Kurnool district, who served as AICC president twice and was part of the late Lal Bahadur Shastri’s Cabinet.
Dalit organisations and leaders noted with anguish and disdain at these leaders not fulfilling the obligation, a tradition continued by successive Chief Ministers. Ministers Danam Nagender (Labour) and M. Mukesh (Marketing), who belonged to the city, also stayed away.
‘Congress leaders not following the tradition continued by successive
Chief Ministers’
