Hyderabad:
The Telangana Assembly on Monday passed a bill to rename Potti Sriramulu Telugu University as the Suravaram Pratap Reddy Telugu University as Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy defended the decision and proposed naming Cherlapally Railway Terminal after Potti Sriramulu.
Speaking in the Assembly after the government tabled the bill, the Chief Minister clarified that changing the name does not mean any disrespect to Sriramulu, who hailed from Andhra Pradesh.
He said that after formation of the Telangana state in 2014, many universities and institutions named after prominent personalities from Andhra were renamed and that his government continued the same tradition.
Sriramulu had died after a 58-day-long hunger strike in 1952 demanding a state for Telugu-speaking people. This led to the formation of Andhra state in 1953.
Following the re-organisation of states on a linguistic basis, the Andhra state was merged with the then Hyderabad state to form Andhra Pradesh in 1956. Telangana was carved out of Andhra Pradesh as a separate state in 2014.
On the BJP opposing the change in the name of Telugu University, the Chief Minister said no one was underestimating the sacrifices of Potti Sriramulu.
Revanth Reddy explained that the government took some policy decisions to name universities and institutions after eminent personalities in recognition of their contributions to the formation of Telangana.
He alleged that some political forces were trying to create misconceptions among people. He said it was unfortunate that leaders in responsible positions were linking the decisions to changes the names to caste.
The Chief Minister said the Gujarat government re-named the Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel Cricket Stadium as the Narendra Modi Cricket Stadium but the Telangana government has not made any such mistake.
He mentioned that after the formation of Telangana state, the NTR Health University was renamed the Kaloji Narayan Rao Health University. ” It does not mean disrespect to NTR. Similarly, the Acharya N.G. Ranga Agricultural University was re-named after Professor Jayashankar, the YSR Horticulture University became Konda Laxman Bapuji Horticulture University, and the Venkateswara University was named after former Prime Minister PV Narasimha Rao. Continuing the tradition, the state government named Potti Sriramulu Telugu University after Suravaram Pratap Reddy,” he said.
Revanth Reddy pointed out that Suravaram Pratap Reddy was a leading freedom fighter in Telangana. “His services to Telangana society are invaluable. He fought against the Nizam and published ‘Golconda’ newspaper,” he said.
He proposed that the newly-built Cherlapally Railway Terminal be named after Sriramulu. He asked Union ministers Kishan Reddy and Bandi Sanjay to prove their sincerity and get permission from the Centre.
The Chief Minister also clarified that the government fully respects former Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister K. Rosaiah and the Arya Vysya community. He announced that the Balkampet Nature Cure Hospital would be renamed after Rosaiah.
Earlier, BJP leader A. Maheshwar Reddy opposed the move to rename the Telugu University. He wanted to know why the government wanted to remove the name of Potti Sriramulu. He suggested that the government change the name of Osmania University to Suravaram University.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
