Telangana CM Revanth Reddy greets Sonia Gandhi on birthday

Hyderabad, Dec 9 (IANS) Telangana Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy on Monday greeted top Congress leader Sonia Gandhi on her birthday on behalf of the people of Telangana.

Speaking in the State Legislative Assembly, the Chief Minister said he was greeting Sonia Gandhi on her 78th birthday on behalf of the House and the people of Telangana, who remained indebted to her for fulfilling their dream of Telangana State.

Making a statement immediately after the commencement of the winter session on Monday morning, Revanth Reddy said Sonia Gandhi as the chairperson of United Progressive Alliance (UPA) fulfilled the 60-year-old aspiration of the people of Telangana.

He observed that December 9 has a special significance in the history of the state as it was on this day in 2009 that then Union Home Minister P. Chidambaram announced that the process for the formation of Telangana State would be initiated.

Revanth Reddy described Sonia Gandhi as the mother of Telangana people who fulfilled the promise with a bold decision to carve out a separate state without bothering about the political losses to the Congress.

The Chief Minister said though there were many hurdles in the creation of Telangana State after the December 9, 2009 announcement, Sonia Gandhi overcame all those to fulfill her commitment.

Revanth Reddy, whose government completed one year on December 7, said the government took various steps in tune with the aspirations of people to bring glory to Telangana’s identity. He listed the steps like changing the state’s abbreviation from ‘TS’ to ‘TG’ and adopting ‘Jaya Jaya He Telangana’ as the official song.

The Chief Minister said the government also designed a ‘Telangana Thalli’ (Mother Telangana) statue reflecting the Telangana culture and traditions. “We have designed the statue in such a manner that it reminds us of our own mothers,” he said.

He said even after a decade of formation of Telangana State, it did not have an officially designed statue of Telangana Thalli. He explained the features of the statue, which is set to be unveiled at the State Secretariat on Monday evening.

Announcing that December 9 every year will be celebrated to pay tribute to Telangana Thalli, Revanth Reddy reiterated the appeal to all to set aside political differences and participate in the ceremony to unveil Telangana Thalli.

He claimed that to demonstrate unity on an issue related to the state’s identity, the government extended an invitation to all including the leader of the opposition and former chief minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao (KCR).

Without naming KCR and Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS), Revanth Reddy said it was unfortunate that an individual, a family and a party think that their views are the only views of the Telangana society.

BJP member Payal Shankar said while the government has powers to modify the statue of ‘Telangana Thalli’, he felt that the modified statue should have highlighted ‘Bathukamma’ the state festival.

Ministers D. Sridhar Babu, Ponnam Prabhakar and former Speaker P. Srinivasa Reddy hailed the government’s move to install Telangana Thalli statue in the State Secretariat. CPI member K. Sambasiva Rao also greeted Sonia Gandhi on her birthday and thanked her for making Telangana State a reality.