HYDERABAD: The statue of freedom fighter and Telangana activist Konda Laxman Bapuji will be added to the list of statues on the street leading to Tank Bund. Works to erect the statue have been started by the Hyderabad Metropolitan Development Authority (HMDA) on the instructions of the State government.
Bapuji was one of the biggest proponents of the separate Statehood movement. He was the first minister in the Congress government to resign from his post for the Telangana cause in 1969, giving much-need impetus to the 1969 Telangana agitation. In 2014, the horticulture university in Hyderabad was named the Sri Konda Laxman Telangana State Horticultural University by the Telangana government in his honour.
The State government is hoping to finish the works ahead of the famous political leader’s 107th birth anniversary on September 27. The statue is being installed in the area towards the main road leading to Tank Bund near the Telangana Martyrs Memorial, situated opposite the BRKR Bhavan.Around Rs 30 lakh is being spent for the construction of the pedestal and steps to access the statue, procurement of the 15-feet-high bronze statue and greenery development.
The statue that is being installed is near the new upcoming Telangana Martyrs Memorial designed in the shape of a ‘lamp with light’, which is set to be inaugurated by end of the year.Sources said that the State Government took a decision to install the statue after representations from the Padmashali community.
Carrying the legacy forward
Born on September 27, 1915, Konda Laxman Bapuji is one of the State’s most foremost freedom fighters and proponents of Telangana State. The statue will be part of the State’s continued efforts to honour the legacy of the great man