BRS slams removal of Peddi Sudarshan Reddy statue in Narsampet, KTR vows to reinstall
BRS working president KT Rama Rao on Tuesday condemned the overnight removal of the statue of former MLA Peddi Sudarshan Reddy in Narsampet, calling it barbaric and alleging political interference by the Congress government.
Rama Rao said the Congress government used the police to remove the statue in an attempt to please Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy. He urged police not to act at the behest of Congress leaders and become victims of a political tussle.He reminded them that power was not permanent.
KTR vowed that upon returning to power, a BRS government would name the government medical college in Narsampet after the former MLA and install his statue to honour his contribution to the Telangana statehood movement.
The statue was removed overnight amid tight security, sparking protests by BRS cadres in Narsampet and tension in the area.
KTR criticised the arrests and house arrests of BRS leaders and activists across the erstwhile Warangal district following protests against the removal. Among those detained were Legislative Council opposition leader S Madhusudhanachari, former government chief whip Dasyam Vinay Bhaskar, former MLA Nannapuneni Narender and other senior party leaders.
He demanded the immediate and unconditional release of all those arrested and warned that the BRS would not tolerate the filing of illegal cases against its leaders and workers. He questioned the need for the removal of the statue from a private property overnight, and appealed to the authorities not to cause further distress to Sudarshan Reddy's family.
Peddi Sudarshan Reddy died on July 30 at a private hospital in Hyderabad at the age of 51, after suffering a heart attack at his residence and undergoing treatment for five days. He was initially admitted to a hospital in Hanamkonda and later moved to Hyderabad.
Born on August 6, 1974, in Nallabelli village of Warangal district, Sudarshan began his political career as the youth president of Nallabelli mandal and later served as block Congress president of Duggondi mandal. He joined the Bharat Rashtra Samithi, then the Telangana Rashtra Samithi, in 2001.
He served as the BRS president of the erstwhile Warangal district from 2006 to 2014 and was part of the party's political bureau. A close aide of former chief minister K Chandrashekhar Rao, he chaired the State Civil Supplies Corporation from 2016 to 2018, and won the Narsampet seat in the 2018 Assembly elections. He lost the seat in 2023. He is survived by his wife, son and daughter.
BRS leaders across the party have condemned the removal. Reports said the party has vowed to install the statue again, and Telangana minister Errabelli Dayakar Rao also condemned the action.
(With inputs from PTI)
