Niranjan Reddy slams Congress over Gandhi statue project in Hyderabad

Former Minister S Niranjan Reddy accused the Congress government of planning to evict 500 families in Hyderabad for a Rs 5,000-crore Gandhi statue project. He said the move was deceptive governance and cited Tushar Gandhi’s appeal against it

Hyderabad: Former Minister S Niranjan Reddy accused the Congress government of attempting to demolish houses of middle-class families in Hyderabad in the name of installing a Gandhi statue, calling it public deception in the guise of governance.

In a statement, Niranjan Reddy said around 500 families, comprising nearly 2,500 people living along the Musi River bank area, were facing eviction for a proposed Rs 5,000-crore project. He said the affected families had been living in fear for years while the government remained unmoved.

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“It is a crime to destroy a residential locality for a statue. This is a real estate government, not a people’s government,” he said, citing Mahatma Gandhi’s grandson Tushar Gandhi, who appealed to Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy not to pursue such measures in his grandfather’s name, as the latter would not have approved it if he was alive.

The former Minister stated that the Cabinet had failed to discuss key public assurances, including Rythu Bharosa financial assistance and other farmer-related commitments. He accused the government of distributing land arbitrarily while targeting poor families, referring to reported demolitions on Bhoodan lands near the Khammam Collectorate.