VIJAYAWADA: Tension prevailed at Benz Circle here late on Saturday night when YSR Congress leaders tried to foil the district administration’s move to pull down the statue of Jai Andhra movement leader Kakani Venkata Ratnam. The Machavaram police took YSRC leader Ravi into custody to clear the way for officials to remove the statue and the traffic island. The demolition was done to facilitate the construction of the flyover at the junction.
Speaking to the media from the police station, Ravi said, “The officials have demolished the statue of Kakani Venkata Ratnam without giving any intimation to anybody. Even though we requested them to give us two days’ time to speak to the authorities concerned, they refused and pulled the structure down. The police too behaved undemocratically.”
He further said that the police claimed that they intimated the local MLA about the decision to remove the statue. “But, the MLA is not the right person. We installed the statue in honour of the leader in 1990,” he added. Even though the police released Ravi and other leaders, he along with Vellampalli Srinivas, Vangaveeti Radha staged a protest again on Sunday. The police had once again detained them and moved to different police stations. Former MP Yalamanchili Sivaji also condemned the removal of the statue, and said that Benz Circle and Kakani Venkata Ratnam’s statue were a matter of sentiment to the people of Vijayawada and Guntur.
The family members of Kakani Venkata Ratnam said that statue was put up at Benz Circle, which got its name due to the presence of a Mercedes Benz company showroom nearby, with the help of members from KCP Ltd.
However, Vijayawada (East) MLA Gadde Rammohan Rao said that the statue would be reinstalled in the same place after the completion of the flyover and NH expansion. “A month ago, the government had taken a decision to remove the statue temporarily to make way for the flyover and national highway expansion works. As the MLA of the constituency, I personally informed the family members of Kakani Venkata Ratnam, and others who were instrumental in erecting the statue. As soon as the works are done, we will reinstall it in the same place,” he clarified.
Water resources minister Devineni Umamaheswara Rao also echoed the same, and added, “We will also name it ‘Kakani Venkata Ratnam Circle’. We will sit with the officials to finalise the design for the same.”