VIJAYAWADA: TDP Pamarru MLA Varla Kumar Raja expressed that the sentiments of Dalits were hurt because the name of YSRC president and former Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy was inscribed in larger letters than that of Dr BR Ambedkar at the Smriti Vanam (Memorial Park) and asserted that these sentiments led Dalits to remove Jagan’s name from the plaque at Ambedkar’s statue.
Speaking to mediapersons at the TDP central office in Mangalagiri on Saturday, Kumar Raja alleged that Dalits had no freedom of expression during Jagan’s tenure as Chief Minister, which is why they remained silent. However, after the formation of a democratic government by the TDP-BJP-JSP combine, they attempted to remove Jagan’s name from Ambedkar’s statue.
Kumar Raja recalled that the previous TDP government had sanctioned the budget to establish the Ambedkar Memorial Park on 20 acres in Amaravati and installation of a model statue between 2014-19, and accused Jagan of destroying the project within three months of coming to power. He charged Jagan with looting crores of rupees in the name of the Ambedkar Memorial, pointing out that while the government in Telangana spent only Rs 250 crore on the Ambedkar statue, Jagan’s government spent Rs 450 crore.