The motion urged the Union Government to confer the Bharat Ratna on the late statesman in recognition of his invaluable service to the nation.
Published Dec 30, 2024 | 4:30 PM ⚊ Updated Dec 30, 2024 | 4:31 PM
Telangana Chief Minister Revanth Reddy and former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh (Wikimedia Commons)
The Telangana Legislative Assembly, paid glowing tributes to former Prime Minister, Dr Manmohan Singh, on Monday, 30 December. It adopted a unanimous motion urging the Union Government to confer the Bharat Ratna on the late statesman in recognition of his invaluable service to the nation.
Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy, moving the condolence motion during a special session of the Telangana Assembly, said that it would be highly appropriate to erect a statue of the late Prime Minister in the financial district of Hyderabad.
The Chief Minister described Dr Manmohan Singh as someone close to the hearts of the people of Telangana, as under his leadership, their dream of a separate Telangana state was realised.
“He may have been a former Prime Minister and a great economist for the entire nation, but for the people of Telangana, he is much more for carving out a separate state from the erstwhile Andhra Pradesh,” he said.
The Chief Minister further called upon members of the House to offer suggestions, if any, regarding a more suitable location for installing the statue.
“We believe that it is appropriate to install Dr Manmohan Singh’s statue in Telangana,” he said.
Though it was widely expected that the Opposition Leader and BRS supremo, K Chandrasekhar Rao, would attend the special session and speak on the condolence motion, he did not appear. On behalf of the BRS, former IT Minister and Sircilla MLA, KT Rama Rao, spoke in support of the motion.
Recalling the services of the former Prime Minister to the nation, Revanth Reddy said that the country had lost a great visionary and that the loss was irreparable.
He stated: “Manmohan Singh laid emphasis on strengthening the country economically and socially. The Employment Guarantee Scheme, which provided 100 days of work to the poor, was his greatest contribution to those in need of support. He also brought the Food Security Act, the Land Acquisition Act of 2013, and the Forest Rights Act of 2006, which targeted the poor, farmers, and tribals.
“His other great contribution to democracy was the Right to Information Act.”
Similarly, BRS working president KT Rama Rao, said Dr Singh was a man of simple life but high thinking. He praised him for remaining loyal to the Congress both in power and out of it, steadfastly.
Recalling Dr Singh’s role in the creation of the Telangana state, KTR reminded the House of how the former Prime Minister had predicted that K Chandrasekhar Rao would become a “karma yogi” for Telangana, relinquishing the Ports, Shipping, and Waterways portfolio for the DMK, which had been insistent on it, thus resolving a significant issue for UPA-I at the time.
The BRS leader also noted that it was the late former Prime Minister PV Narasimha Rao who inducted Dr Manmohan Singh into his cabinet as Finance Minister, but expressed regret that proper last rites were not performed for Rao. He urged the state government to establish a memorial for Rao in Delhi, as all other late Prime Ministers have memorials in the nation’s capital.
Furthermore, he expressed his party’s support for the proposal to erect Dr Singh’s statue in Hyderabad.
Those who spoke on the motion included Deputy Speaker Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka, Ministers D Sridhar Babu, Ponnam Prabhakar, N Uttam Kumar Reddy, CPI member K Sambasiva Rao, BJP leader Alleti Maheshwar Reddy, and BRS leader T Harish Rao.
(Edited by Dese Gowda)
