Peddi Sudharshan Reddy statue removed in Narsampet, BRS cadres stage protests

Tension prevailed in Narsampet after municipal officials removed former MLA and BRS leader Peddi Sudharshan Reddy’s statue. BRS cadres staged protests across the constituency, while several leaders and activists were detained. Officials said the statue was installed without permission on assigned land.

Warangal: High tension prevailed in Narsampet Assembly constituency as officials removed the statue of former MLA and BRS leader late Peddi Sudharshan Reddy. The incident triggered protests by party cadres.

Narsampet municipal officials began the statue removal process late on Monday night. A large police force was deployed to prevent any untoward incidents and restrictions were imposed to bar anyone from entering the area surrounding the statue near Government Medical College.

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Under police protection, officials removed the statue, demolished the pedestal and cleared the debris. The incident sparked outrage among BRS ranks, who staged protests at different parts of the constituency on Tuesday. Police took several cadres and leaders into custody.

BRS activists burnt an effigy of Congress MLA Donthi Madhava Reddy at Ashoknagar village in Khanapur mandal against the removal of the statue. In Warangal, former MLA Nannapuneni Narender was put under house arrest and a large number of activists were detained by police.

Speaking to the media, Narender strongly condemned the officials’ action and asserted that the BRS would install Sudharshan Reddy’s statues in every mandal in Narsampet constituency.

Sudharshan Reddy’s wife Swapna lamented that the party cadres were unable to bear the removal of the statue of a man who always thought about the people rather than his own family. It was distressing that the statue was demolished on the occasion of Madhava Reddy’s birthday, she noted.

It may be noted that after the death of Sudharshan Reddy, one of his followers built a pedestal to install the statue on his land at Sarvapuram on the outskirts of Narsampet town. However, officials demolished the pedestal on the night of August 9.

The BRS cadres installed a bust-size statue of Sudharshan Reddy on a pedestal built again at the same location on August 10. The officials maintained that the statue was removed as no permission was obtained to install it and it was installed on assigned land.