Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee (PCC) president and parliament member from Malkajgiri A Revanth Reddy on Wednesday defended his call to the Maoists to blow up Pragati Bhavan, the official bungalow of chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao.
On the other hand, the PCC chief said his party itself would take up the initiative in demolishing the Pragati Bhavan which, he said, had ceased to be a symbol of progress, but a symbol of monarchy.
“I have not said anything wrong. Pragati Bhavan was built with people’s money. It should be accessible to all sections of people. If the people have no entry into it, what is the use of such a structure,” he asked.
He recalled that in the past, chief ministers like Y S Rajasekhar Reddy and N Chandrababu Naidu used to meet the people at their respective official bungalows.
“Why is KCR not opening his fort to the people?” he asked.
Revanth Reddy called upon the people to break the gates of Pragati Bhavan which had denied them an entry.
“If necessary, the Congress party would take the responsibility of dismantling KCR’s bungalow,” he said.
He pointed out that KCR had in the past vowed to implement the agenda of the Naxalites.
“Why are the BRS leaders finding fault with my comments now?” he asked, and added that he had only reflected the people’s thoughts.
Meanwhile, the BRS leaders lodged a complaint with the Telangana director general of police Anjani Kumar demanding action against Revanth Reddy.
BRS spokesperson and MLC Palla Rajeshwar Reddy said the PCC chief’s call to the Maoists to blow up the chief minister’s bungalow was a major crime.
Similar complaints were filed by the BRS leaders in Mulugu and Narasampet police stations, stating that the PCC chief’s call smacks of a major conspiracy, posing a threat to the life of the chief minister.
The PCC chief made the controversial remarks while addressing the gathering in Maoist-infested parts of Mulugu district during his ongoing Hath Se Haath Jodo padayatra on Tuesday.
Stating that KCR, as the chief minister is called, had been indifferent to the hardships of the people as he was confined to the four walls of the Pragati Bhavan, Revanth said even if Maoists blow up the bungalow, it hardly made any difference to the people, as it was of no use to them.
He alleged that hundreds of crores of public money was spent to build Pragati Bhavan, but it was of no use to the people.
“What use is a structure built with hundreds of crores when the chief minister is indifferent to the sufferings of the people as long as he is inside it?” he asked.
“Like the Naxalites had set blasts in the forts earlier, what if they blast Pragathi Bhavan with dynamite? That Pragathi Bhavan is like a fort, there is no entry for the poor," he said.
