Despite fierce criticism, Congress defends redesigned Telangana Thalli statue

Govt claims no official approval was given to previous version during BRS regime, prompting current government to formalise the design

Hyderabad: The Telangana Legislative Assembly on Monday saw heated discussions over the unveiling of redesigned Telangana Thalli statue at the State Secretariat, with the Congress government justifying the new design.

The government claimed that no official approval was given to the previous version during the BRS regime, prompting the current government to formalise the design. Making a statement in the Assembly, Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy claimed that the new design reflected Telangana’s cultural heritage and self-respect.

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“Telangana Thalli represents the mother who united and led four crore people during the statehood movement. The pedestal symbolises our history, and martyrs’ sacrifices, while the statue embodies our traditions and culture,” he said.

Revanth Reddy dismissed allegations of erasing cultural richness in redesigning the statue. “Telangana Devatha (Goddess) and Telangana Thalli (mother) are different. No Thalli has a crown, which is reserved for the Goddesses,” he clarified. Revanth also announced December 9 as Telangana Thalli Avatharana Utsavam to celebrate Telangana’s identity.

The BJP criticised the Congress for not consulting political parties before finalising the design. BJP MLAs Payal Shankar and Palvai Harish Babu lamented the exclusion of Bathukamma, a key cultural symbol, from the statue and urged its inclusion.

Harish Babu reminded that the Bharat Matha was first designed in Bengal, as a simple woman, but former Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru had her redesigned with crown and jewellery to reflect the richness of the country. “But the Congress government in Telangana decided to reverse it,” he said.

CPI MLA Kunamneni Sambhasiva Rao backed the Congress over redesigning the statue without consulting the opposition parties. He alleged that the BRS (then TRS) government also did not consult other political parties, especially CPI, before finalising the design of Telangana Thalli.

Congress Ministers D Sridhar Babu and Ponnam Prabhakar also defended the government’s move, arguing that the previous BRS government failed to approve an official design. They said the new Congress government approved the State anthem, design of Telangana Thalli officially and also changed abbreviation from TS to TG as per the aspirations of the people.