Former Vijayawada MP Lagadapati Rajagopal is terribly hurt with Telugu Desam Party president and Andhra Pradesh chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu.
The once-upon-firebrand politician, who was said to be contemplating joining the TDP, was not happy with the way the life-size bronze statue of former chief minister Y S Rajasekhar Reddy in the heart of Vijayawada was removed and the pedestal was dismantled late on Friday night.
There is a reason for that: the statue was erected by Lagadapati himself by spending lakhs of rupees as a tribute to YSR’s efforts to construct large scale irrigation projects under Jalayagnam scheme. Of course, Lagadapati was also one of the beneficiaries of this scheme. So, the dismantling of the statue has angered him.
On Sunday, Lagadapati called up union minister Sujana Chowdary and MP C M Ramesh and lodged his protest. He asked them to convince Naidu to reinstall the statue.
“If you can’t tell him, I will meet Naidu and request him directly,” Lagadapati said.
May be, Naidu will listen to Lagadapati and see that the statue is restored at some place, if not the same location.
