State BJP chief Bandi Sanjay Kumar: If elected will demolish the domes of the new Telangana Secretariat building.
If the Telangana BJP is elected to power, Bandi Sanjay Kumar, the party’s leader, has declared that the state’s new Secretariat building will have its domes demolished and altered to better reflect Telangana’s and the nation’s cultures.
Speaking at an Old Bowenpally gathering on Friday as part of the “Janam Gosa-BJP Bharosa” (people’s suffering – BJP’s assurance) campaign, he disagreed with the Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao’s decision to open the new Secretariat on February 17, the latter’s birthday.
According to Kumar, Babasaheb Ambedkar’s birthday, April 14, should mark the dedication of the Secretariat building, which the BRS administration named in his honour.
The Karimnagar Lok Sabha member claimed that the BRS government upped the cost estimates from Rs 400 crore to Rs 1,500 crore for the construction of the Secretariat.
He is constructing the Secretariat like the Taj Mahal with Rs 1,500 crore. We will surely destroy those domes whenever the BJP forms a government. We are going to make the Secretariat more representative of Telangana and Indian culture,’ he declared.
He claimed that Rao is trying to win over AIMIM president Asaduddin Owaisi and that the Taj Mahal is actually a “samadhi” in reference to Owaisi’s reported comments that the new Secretariat has been erected brilliantly, like a Taj Mahal.
A “Praja Darbar” would be created at Pragati Bhavan, the Chief Minister’s camp office and official house.
He questioned why young people from Hyderabad’s historic old city do not have access to employment, alleging that the AIMIM is not concerned about the welfare of minorities.
The BJP representative criticised the ruling BRS for not carrying out its electoral pledges, including failing to appoint a Dalit leader as chief minister, giving money to young people who are unemployed, and failing to administer the “Dalit Bandhu” scheme properly, among other things.
If the BJP were to win the state’s election, Kumar added, it would give the impoverished access to free health care and education.
In the meantime, Kumar’s remarks that the Secretariat’s domes will be destroyed were criticised by the ruling BRS.
Telangana Municipal Administration Minister K T Rama Rao claimed that the opposition parties talked about demolitions and lacked a constructive approach in apparent response to Kumar’s remarks.