Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy has announced his government’s decision to institute annual awards to artistes, poets and film personalities in the name of singer and revolutionary balladeer Gaddar.
The awards will be presented every year on Gaddar’s birth anniversary. The Chief Minister was speaking at a programme organised to celebrate Gaddar’s birth anniversary here on Wednesday. He recalled the contributions of the balladeer in educating people about social issues and said Gaddar was among the first to demand the formation of separate Telangana State and continued his struggle after the State’s formation as the aspirations of the people remained unfulfilled. Mr. Revanth Reddy said his government drew inspiration from the revolutionary singer and had therefore converted the heavily barricaded Pragati Bhavan into Jyotirao Phule Praja Bhavan giving access to the people.
BRS president and former chief minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao did not fulfil his promise of making a Dalit the chief minister, but the people’s governance of the Congress saw to it that Mr. Rao’s daughter Kalvakuntla Kavitha submitted a representation to a Dalit seeking installation of statue of Phule. He said the government would examine the proposal for setting up Gaddar’s statue on Tank Bund and a decision on this issue would be taken after discussion in the State Cabinet. In this context, he recalled how the opposition party was trying to criticise the government rather than giving suggestions while a section of them were “dreaming of Mr. Chandrasekhar Rao coming back to power in six months”. “People will teach a fitting lesson to them,” he said, affirming that the Congress would provide a stable government for five years and fulfil the people’s aspirations.
