Social Welfare Minister Koppula Eshwar has said that work on the proposed 125-foot statue of Dr. B.R. Ambedkar near NTR Gardens here was progressing at a brisk pace and the statue was likely to be unveiled by the end of this year.
The Minister, who on Sunday inspected the site where the statue was coming up, asserted that Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao’s government was committed to install Dr. Ambedkar’s statue as also for the implementation of Dalit Bandhu, the ambitious scheme launched for promoting entrepreneurship among Dalits.
He accused TS BJP president Bandi Sanjay of being blind to the developments in the State and using intemperate language against KCR. “People will teach a fitting lesson to Mr. Sanjay if he did not change his ways,” he said. The government had taken up construction of the new secretariat for administrative convenience. Mr. Sanjay Kumar should understand that the BJP government took up construction of new building for Parliament for administrative convenience. “Mr. Modi has also purchased two flights costing ₹10,000 crore,” he recalled.
The Minister showed video clippings of slogans raised by Uttar Pradesh BJP leaders against SCs and STs. MLA Ch. Kranti Kiran, who accompanied the Minister, said that the place earmarked for installing Dr. Ambedkar’s statue was sacred and BJP leaders who practiced ‘manuvaad’ were not entitled to enter into the premises. He demanded that the BJP government implement Dalit Bandhu at the national level to prove their commitment towards SCs and STs.