The peaceful region Konseema in Andhra Pradesh turned violent and tense at once with the violent protests hitting the region. Protesting against the proposal of renaming the Konaseema district after Ambedkar, the protestors hit the road demanding the Andhra Pradesh government to not change the name. The tension around the matter is still intact.
Reacting to the issue, Janasena chief Pawan Kalyan voiced the majority opinion on the issue. Pawan Kalyan asked why the district was not named after Ambedkar when the new districts were announced and why the government took its time in giving the new name to the district.
Pawan Kalyan raised a big doubt about whether the government delayed the process to give birth to the tense situation. Not just Pawan Kalyan, many have the same doubt. The government did not mention Ambedkar’s name while naming the districts and it considered Ambedkar’s name when a few Dalit groups protested.
The way the Konaseema region was named after Ambedkar without knowing the public pulse is also suspicious here. Konaseema has three communities in equal numbers including Dalits. Having the district name after Dalit icon Ambedkar will please the Dalits and others might have not liked it.
It would have been appropriate if the Andhra Pradesh government would have conducted an opinion survey in the region to know what the locals and non-SC population feel about having Ambedkar’s name for the region.
