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Telangana govt defers unveiling of new state emblem amid row
The decision was taken at a meeting of representatives of different political parties chaired by chief minister Reddy
Hyderabad Amid criticism from Opposition, the Telangana government led by chief minister A Revanth Reddy on Thursday decided to postpone its plans to unveil the new emblem of the state government and also the statue of Telangana Talli (Mother Telangana), an official release from the chief minister’s office said.
The decision was taken at a meeting of representatives of different political parties chaired by chief minister Reddy. Notably, representatives of the Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) and the All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen skipped the meeting.
Initially, the state government had planned to unveil the new emblem, Telangana Talli statue and Telangana state anthem on June 2 as part of the Telangana formation day celebrations.
Revanth Reddy said his government had taken many initiatives as part of rebuilding of the state.
With regard to the new Telangana emblem, the chief minister said the government had already received around 500 samples from artists. “All the designs are still under discussion and no design has been finalised yet,” Reddy said.
He said a final decision had also not been taken regarding the Telangana Talli statue. “The government will take a final decision on Telangana emblem and Telangana Talli statue only after discussion in the assembly. This would not give any scope to misconceptions and false propaganda,” he said, adding, “The government is preparing an action plan to uphold the Telangana prestige and inspire the future generations.”
However, Revanth Reddy said the state anthem – “Jaya Jayahe Telangana..” has been approved and it would be released on June 2.
“There are two versions of the song – the complete version of the song is 13.30-minute-long and the shorter version is 2.30 minutes. The government is already making arrangements for marking the state formation day on a grand scale. The state song will be released during the celebrations,” Reddy added.
Meanwhile, the opposition BRS on Thursday said it would hold protests against the Congress government’s alleged move to remove Charminar and the ‘Kakatiya arch’ from the state emblem.
BRS working president K T Rama Rao, who visited Charminar along with other party leaders, said Charminar is the identity of Hyderabad. “We oppose the Congress government’s attempt to remove Charminar and the Kakatiya arch from the official logo of Telangana,” he said.
