Telugu land is blessed with many leaders who left their mark as Chief Ministers. Earlier we had a single state which was made into two states Andhra Pradesh and Telangana. We respect the Chief Ministers by dedicating a few places and structures after them. The popular Jalagam Vengalrao Park named after former Chief Minister Jalagam Vengala Rao is one such example.
Late Yeduguri Sandinti Rajasekhara Reddy aka YSR is one such leader who brought many schemes to benefit the poor. The Kadapa district where he was born is named after him as a bid to honour him and his statues are across Andhra Pradesh.
But the count of YSR statues increased massively after his son YS Jagan Mohan Reddy ventured into electoral politics. During his Padayatra he set up many statues to meet and console people. But the status quo changed after Jagan became the Chief Minister.
The Jagan government is trying to paint that only YSR is a great leader and the party is on a spree of naming the establishments after him. Recently he named the name of the NTR University saying that YSR brought many pro-people schemes and it would be appropriate if the name is changed.
As if it was not enough the Andhra Pradesh government even replaced the existing statue of Yogi Vemana from the Vemana University with YSR’s statue. This became a big issue and the students of the University are fighting for the removal of YSR’s statue.
It is understood that YSR is Jagan’s father and he wants to bank on his image. If Jagan wants to take forward YSR’s legacy he can construct roads and other constructions and can name them after his father. No one would object. But changing the names will only bring a bad image to YSR.
Renaming the structures and setting up statues of YSR will only bring a bad image to the leader. The actions taken by YS Jagan Mohan Reddy and his government are doing the same. Even the common people are saying the same and asking what is wrong with the Chief Minister and the state government.
