HYDERABAD: A large number of TDP leaders including MLAs and MLCs on Thursday organised a silent rally from Assembly to Telugu Lalitha Kala Thoranam protesting the renaming of the only open air auditorium in the state by prefixing Rajiv Gandhi’s name to it.
Protestors including TDP leaders D Veera Bhadra Rao, Talasani Srinivasa Yadav and T Krishna Reddy protested before the auditorium by gagging their mouths with black ribbons. They vowed to continue the fight till the government withdrew the GO renaming the auditorium.
Meanwhile, in Kurnool TDP leaders organised a signature campaign against the government’s decision and also organized rallies at various places. They termed the change of name as blasphemy.
TDP Kurnool district president S Venkataswarlu alleged that the Chief Minister had no regard for people’s opinion as he was nominated through the Legislative Council. The BJP state unit also protested the renaming of the auditorium.
Prof C Mrinalini, writer and critic :
I oppose renaming the Telugu Lalitha Kala Thoraman as Rajiv Telugu Lalitha Kala Thoranam and its conversion into an indoor auditorium.
For one thing, Rajiv Gandhi has got nothing to do with Telugu culture and heritage and it looks odd to use his name either as prefix or suffix. Secondly, converting it into a closed auditorium will negate the original reason for building it.
In Boggulkunta in Hyderabad, Andhra Saraswata Parishad had an open air theatre in the 1970s. It used to buzz with activity with people flocking there to watch the number of cultural programmes held.
In mid 1980s, when it was converted to an indoor auditorium, it’s popularity declined. Now hardly any functions apart from the odd book release are held there.
I do not want the same fate to befall Lalita Kala Thoranam. It is a beautiful open air auditorium with an excellent ambience to enjoy cultural programmes.
It attracts a large number of people. Instead of converting it into an closed door auditorium, the government should consider increasing its seating capacity. Maybe shamianas could be kept ready in case there is a sudden downpour.
Just because programmes cannot be held in case of rain is no reason to convert it into an indoor auditorium.
How it all began
Telugu Lalitha Kala Thoranam, the only open air auditorium in the state, was constructed in 1986 under the initiative of the then Chief Minister NT Ramarao. Built in a record 84 days, the auditorium was constructed to hold the International Film Festival in that year. The IFF received huge response and even passersby watched the movies screened free-of-cost.
The government now wants to convert the open air auditorium into an indoor auditorium by reducing the existing seating capacity from 5,000 to 2,000.
They claim that it is incurring losses. To that effect, they invited donors to fund the renovation works and even allowed them to rename the auditorium after any person they wished.
When Congress MP T Subbirami Reddy donated the required money, he requested the name to be changed to Rajiv Lalitha Kala Thoranam which the government did through a GO. But with widespread protests from the opposition, the government again changed the name to Rajiv Telugu Lalitha Kala Thoranam. But it failed to appease the protestors.
Though the government justified the renovation claiming the auditorium was incurring losses, TDP leaders say it has fetched Rs 10 lakh profit this year.
They also claim that converting it into an indoor auditorium would deprive the poor from access to cinema screened there.
They claim that during TDP regime, almost 80 movies were screened there which were watched even by rickshaw pullers free of cost but during the Congress rule, free shows were reduced.
-- expresshyd@expressbuzz.com