BRS slams GHMC over renaming Annapurna canteens as Indira canteens

The party corporators staged a protest at the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) office, condemning the government's decision to rename the canteens.

Hyderabad: Coming down heavily on the Congress government in the state for renaming the Annapurna Canteens, Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) working president, K T Rama Rao on Saturday, called the decision “ridiculous and shameful”.

The party corporators staged a protest at the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) office, condemning the government’s decision to rename the canteens.

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Criticising the Chief Minister, A Revanth Reddy for renaming the canteen scheme, Rama Rao, in a tweet insisted “If you want to show your subservience to Delhi bosses, why don’t you change your own name to Rajiv or Jawahar? Renaming Annapurna canteens is absolutely ridiculous and shameful. We shall undo all of such senseless actions in 2028 when BRS is back at the helm of the state.”

Meanwhile, scores of BRS workers and supporters on Saturday held a protest at the GHMC head office decrying the proposed move to rename the Annapurna Rs 5 meal canteens as Indiramma canteens.

The BRS corporators led by the former Minister and Sanathnagar MLA, T. Srinivas Yadav held the hour-long protest at the main entrance of the GHMC head office. Holding placards, the protesters demanded the civic body withdraw the standing committee resolution to rename the Annapurna canteens.

Srinivas Yadav said the Annapurna canteens were started by the then Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao with an intention of providing quality meals for Rs 5 for the poor and unemployed who come to the city from various regions. He expressed disappointment that instead of increasing the number of canteens, there is an attempt to change their names.

Srinivas Yadav criticised the Congress government for failing to support the canteens and pointed out that 20 of the 150 canteens have been closed. He questioned the logic of changing names instead of implementing the six guarantees and numerous promises made during elections. He demanded holding the GHMC council meeting to discuss the issue and seek opinions from members of all parties.

The Annapurna canteen scheme, launched by the BRS government in 2014, provides hygienic meals for Rs. 5 to the urban poor. BRS corporators, led by leaders like Kavitha, demanded that the decision be reversed, citing the cultural significance of the original name and alleging no improvements were made to justify the change.

 

Mr. Revant Reddy,

If you want to show your subservience to Delhi bosses, why don’t you change your own name to Rajiv or Jawahar ?

Renaming Annapurna canteens is absolutely ridiculous and shameful

We shall undo all of these senseless actions in 2028 when BRS is back at the… https://t.co/ufWwUWyXu2

— KTR (@KTRBRS) June 28, 2025