Hyderabad: The late leader’s son told ThePrint that Congress leader Rahul Gandhi could not visit the statue of former Prime Minister Narasimha Rao due to security reasons.
Rao’s son PV Prabhakar Rao told ThePrint that he went to the spot on Necklace Road, where his father’s statue is a few feet from former prime minister Indira Gandhi, when he was told that Rahul would visit the site.
“Some leaders of the Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee invited me to attend my father’s statue on Tuesday morning. He told me that Rahul Gandhi would garland the statue of PV Narasimha Rao. I went, but it didn’t happen,” Prabhakar told ThePrint. “I was told [that] Rahul could not come to the statue due to security reasons [and that] The exit was planned in a different way.”
The statue stands on the banks of Hussain Sagar and was unveiled in June 2021 as part of the Telangana government’s year-long centenary celebrations for Rao’s birthday.
Narasimha Rao’s youngest son Prabhakaralso said that senior Congress leader and Rajya Sabha member Digvijay Singh met him and “expressed his apology”, adding that “Rahul Gandhi also felt bad about not being able to stop the statue”.
“If something like this happens it will certainly feel bad, but I leave it to his wisdom why Rahul Gandhi didn’t visit the statue of PV Narasimha Rao, the leaders also told me how the basic plan for the Bharat Jodi Yatra was RG’s visit to my father’s statue in the day was not scheduled,” he said, adding that it was dark even when Rahul visited his grandmother’s statue.
Rahul had courted a political controversy on Tuesday when he paid tribute to his late grandmother Indira and even addressed a corner gathering but was only a few meters away from Rao’s statue. The Gandhi descendants are currently in the Telangana phase of the Congress Party’s ‘Bharat Jodi Yatra’.
Telangana unit of Bharatiya Janata Party criticized Rahul for ignoring Rao’s statue
“Rahul Gandhi paid homage to the Indira Gandhi statue on Necklace Road and not the nearby PV Narasimha Rao statue. Why not pay tribute to Rao’s statue? Is this the culture of Congress? BJP’s National OBC Morcha president K Laxman said Rahul should apologize to the “people of Telangana”.
Narasimha Rao’s grandson- BJP leader NV Subhash said, “It shows disrespect towards their own leaders.”
Rao was the tenth Prime Minister of India, who is credited with introducing liberal reforms in the country in the early 90s.
ThePrint reached out to Telangana Congress chief Revanth Reddy’s office and Congress’ communications in-charge Jairam Ramesh via text for his comments. This report will be updated upon receipt of feedback.
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sour relationship
The relationship between Gandhi and Rao has seen its share of ups and downs.
Rao was almost retired From active politics when former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi was assassinated in 1991. Rajiv’s widow Sonia then chose Rao to head the newly-elected Congress government.
Soon, however, Rao and Sonia had a rift over several issues, including the investigation. Bofors cannon scam, Sonia was also reportedly upset Rao also discussed the economic reforms initiated by him and his decision to take an independent course.
Things finally peaked in 1995, when Sonia reportedly “”Slow motionIn connection with the investigation into the murder of her husband. Like Rao, the conversation between the two fell short. 10 Janpath tour Gandhi’s residence.
Rao’s tenure as Prime Minister from 1991 to 1996 was also full of controversies, the most prominent of them being the demolition of the Babri Masjid in December 1992.
After the defeat of the Congress in 1996, Rao was forced to to resign as Congress chief and was ostracized by the party for many years.
The bitterness was so deep that when he died in 2004, his body was not allowed inside the Congress headquarters at 24, Akbar Road. Instead, it was placed on the footpath outside the gates, where both Sonia and Manmohan Singh, who was then prime minister, paid tribute to the late leader.
Since then several political parties have criticized the Congress for its treatment of Rao. At the launch of a book in July, Prime Minister Narendra Modi accused the Congress of fail to accept Rao’s contribution to the country
Telangana Chief Minister K. Chandrashekhar Rao’s 2020 year long centenary celebrations Rao’s birth anniversary was also seen as a political message for the Congress.
(Edited by Uttara Ramaswamy)
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