HYDERABAD: Tension prevailed at Borabanda in Hyderabad when BJP and Bajrang Dal activists tried to reinstall a statue of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj, which the police and Municipal authorities had removed contending that no permission was given for it.
Friday being the birth anniversary of the Maratha ruler, the activists wanted to garland the statue but police told them in the morning that no programme — be it garlanding or addressing a public meeting — would be allowed as there was no permission for these.
Nevertheless, the activists tried to reinstall the statue but police prevented them. On learning about it, BJP State president Bandi Sanjay Kumar led a procession to the spot and addressed a public meeting where he called the State government to account for its policy of minority appeasement.
Exuding confidence that the saffron party would come to power in 2023, he demanded to know form the TRS if only Babar’s statues should be erected in Hyderabad. “We will install Shivaji statues in each and every galli of the city,” he said.
Sanjay Kumar said the next government in Telangana would be that of the BJP’s and only the saffron flag will fly high in the State. “Don’t be afraid of police. If you gnash your teeth, its sound should reach the Chief Minister,” he said, calling upon the people to end the rule of ‘Rajakars’ in Telangana which is in the guise of the TRS. He pointed out that Christians are ruling AP and Muslims in Telangana. He wanted to know why KCR, who claims to be a true Hindu, did not allow the installation of the Shivaji statue and instead was resting in his farmhouse.