A glittering white-coated cement statue under a tree welcomes practically goes unnoticed by visitors to the Krishna district Collectorate. Two waste collection trucks parked by its side present a revolting sight .
This is the pathetic state of the statue of legendary cricketer Colonel Cottari Kanakaiya Nayudu, better known as C.K. Nayudu. The statue has been languishing on the premises for over a year.
Cottari Suryaprakasa Rao of Machilipatnam town had migrated to Nagpur, where C.K. Nayudu, who went on to captain India’s first Test team, was born in 1895. C.K. Nayudu passed away in 1967 in Nagpur.
Celebrating the contribution of the towering personality, a street between Police Ramalayam and Saibaba Statue road circle in the town was named after him.
In 2017, Congress leaders opposed installing the statue at Parasupeta centre, where former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi’s statue stood before it was removed a few years ago. Meanwhile, the National Highways Authority of India, under whose jurisdiction the centre falls, ruled out permission to install any statue.
Following the dispute between the TDP and Congress leaders the statue was taken to the Collectorate.
Law and Sports Minister Kollu Ravindra had suggested that statue be installed in some other part of the town.
Mr. Ravindra told The Hindu that the location for installing the statue was yet to be identified.
When contacted, Bandar Revenue Divisional Officer P. Uday Bhaskar and Municipal Chairman M. Baba Prasad admitted that they did not have any idea about C.K. Nayudu’s statue.
“It’s the fate of Colonel C.K. Nayudu that no political party wishes to honour him by installing his statue in Machilipatnam,” lamentedMohammed Silar in his book on ‘Machilipatnam Sarvasvam.’
