Hyderabad: Parade Ground wall demolished, forgotten after BJP meet, walkers protest

Hyderabad: Came, destroyed and left is what local residents of Secunderabad are now saying about the Bharatiya Janata Party’s meeting at Parade Grounds last Sunday. The reason, the compound wall of the Parade Grounds was allegedly demolished at three spots to create extra entry points into the historic grounds, which is managed by the Local […]

Hyderabad: Came, destroyed and left is what local residents of Secunderabad are now saying about the Bharatiya Janata Party’s meeting at Parade Grounds last Sunday.

The reason, the compound wall of the Parade Grounds was allegedly demolished at three spots to create extra entry points into the historic grounds, which is managed by the Local Military Authority, has been left like that. Wide open and free for anyone to enter.

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The first voice of protest came from the Parade Ground Walkers Association, who have put up two banners at the demolished spots, asking who would ‘construct the demolished wall’, the Secunderabad Cantonment Board or the BJP.

Responding to photographs of the banner that were shared on Twitter, some have tagged union Minister G Kishan Reddy, saying that being the city MP and a union Cabinet Minister, he would have to answer to the citizens. While one person tweeted saying that BJP State president Bandi Sanjay Kumar should respond, another tagged Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who had attended the meeting at the venue, while yet another tagged BJP’s Telangana and national Twitter handles.

A signboard outside #ParadeGround in #Secunderabad asks who will reconstruct the 3 demolished walls after the #BJPNECInTelangana conference was conducted in the venue? @SECBAD_CANTT or @BJP4Telangana? pic.twitter.com/60WedSEpSb

— Krishnamurthy (@krishna0302) July 8, 2022

The Parade Grounds is a crucial part of Secunderabad’s history, and is known to have hosted cricket matches right from the late 1950s, with several cricketers from the city, including VVS Laxman, having played on the pitch, said to be a quite tough one to tackle.

It was renamed in 2017 as General KV Krishna Rao Parade Ground after the former Chief of Army Staff, who made Secunderabad his home after retirement and passed away in 2016 while living in Sainikpuri.