Telangana villagers rename village after KCR’s daughter Kavitha

The Khanapur gram panchayat passed a resolution a couple of days ago to rename the village after Kalvakuntla Kavitha, the daughter of chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao, as a “token of their reverence for coming to rescue them after they were displaced by a project on Godavari river.

Villagers of Khanapur in Telangana’s Nizamabad district have renamed their village as Kavithapuram after Kalvakuntla Kavitha, the daughter of Telangana Rashtra Samithi president and chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao.

A village in Telangana was recently renamed after chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao’s daughter, Kalvakuntla Kavitha .(PTI File Photo)

The Khanapur gram panchayat, under Armoor block, passed a resolution a couple of days ago to rename the village after Kavitha as a “token of their reverence” towards the member of Parliament for coming to their rescue, when they were displaced by the Sri Ram Sagar Project (SRSP) reservoir on Godavari river.

“We are overwhelmed with her concern for us. So, we have decided to name our village as Kavithapuram,” Khanapur sarpanch Mamatha Naresh told Hindustan Times.

Highlights

The village of Khanaour in Telangana was renamed as Kavithapuram after the daughter of CM K Chandrasekhar Rao, Kalvakuntla Kavitha, as “token of reverence” .

Kavitha, an MP, came to the rescue of the villagers after they were displaced by a project on the Godavari river.

Opposition Congress termed the renaming as “glorifying the family of KCR” to project him as the “sole crusader” of Telangana.

The ruling TRS recently observed “Deeksha Diwas” to recall the hunger strike taken up by KCR in 2009, which led to a massive uprising in the Telangana for a separate state.

“There were 274 houses in the village, which was submerged under the SRSP waters. We have been rehabilitated in a new place, a few kilometres away from our original village. Our MP has taken initiative in allotting a new piece of land to rebuild the village. We met Kavitha a couple of days ago and requested for construction of double-bedroom houses for all the 274 households,” she said.

According to Armoor tehsildar Rajender, the village continues to be called Khanapur in the revenue records till a notification is issued to that effect but the sarpanch said it would be referred to only as Kavithapuram. The villagers have already put up a banner at the entrance of the village with the changed name.

“This is obviously a part of glorifying the family of KCR so as to project him as a sole crusader of the Telangana,” a local Congress leader said on condition of anonymity.

In fact, the TRS rank and file observed Tuesday as “Deeksha Diwas” to recall the fast-unto-death taken up by KCR on this day in 2009, which led to a massive uprising in the Telangana for a separate state.

A poster on the resolution of Khanapur panchayat in Nizamabad district stating that the village has been renamed as Kavithapur. (HT Photo)

“It was a major milestone in the movement of Telangana and no doubt the bold step taken by KCR galvanised millions of people and took the movement to the peak,” Telangana Joint Action Committee chairman M Kodandaram, who has now turned a bitter critic of the chief minister, recalled.

“At the same time, one cannot ignore the sacrifices made by hundreds of students and youth in the movement,” he said.

Pro-TRS groups have even started describing KCR as “Telangana Bapu” (Father of Telangana) on the lines of Mahatma Gandhi, who is revered as the Father of Nation.

Some KCR supporters have also constructed a temple for him at Dandepalli village in Adilabad district’s Luxettipet some time ago. And there is also a demand growing in some social media circles seeking the Bharat Ratna for the TRS supremo.

“It is unfortunate that the politics of Telangana have become individual-centric, rather than people centric,” Kodandaram said.

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