CM, Congress blamed for free run to vandals

The Tank Bund vandalism facilitates the accusing finger to turn at the Congress or Chief Minister for turning the entire heat against the Telangana Rashtra Samithi and company for diluting the 'bifurcation' issue.

That is the signal the yesterday's unfortunate event sends to all concerned. In one respect some quarters were of the opinion that the Congress government utilised the 'situation' in their favour.

Meanwhile, the Kiran Kumar Reddy government today stands squarely blamed for all that vandalism perpetrated by the Telangana separatists who were allowed to have a free run on the Tank Bund and destroy the statues of Telugu luminaries.

It was a ‘Black Day’, said many. The TDP founder-president NT Rama Rao had installed the statues on the Tank Bund as a mark of respect to the luminaries and also considering their invaluable services to the state and the country as a whole but the agitators dismantled them in one stroke with an ulterior motive to push the government into disrepute.

According to reports, the miscreants took four to five hours to destroy the statues. What did the police do?, questioned the opposition in chorus.

Numerous barricades were fixed on the city roads particularly near the Tank Bund where police forces stood in attendance. Their presence was aimed at preventing the agitators from entering the main venue.

With so much force at the Tank Bund it looked like a fortress armed to the brim. In such a situation, the vandals were allowed a free run and the dismantling went unchecked.

The police could have prevented the miscreants from desecrating the statues, opined many, especially when they were well within reach of the statues.

Political leaders said that the concentration of both the TJAC and the police forces that were stationed over there was on the stretch of Tank Bund – the meeting point of the ‘Million marchers.’

TDP MLAs from Coastal Andhra and Rayalaseema, after inspection of the site faulted the Chief Minister for his inaction. “He is the culprit,” they said.

The Chief Minister has miserably failed to protect the legends’ statues, said TDP leaders P Ashoka Gajapati Raju, Dhulipalla Narendra Kumar, Payyavula Keshav, Devineni Umamaheswara Rao, Pattipati Pulla Rao and others.

They were also categorical in demanding his resignation over the incident. He should step down owning the moral responsibility as vandalism was allowed with a well orchestrated plan and an ulterior motive to foment discontent and animosity between Telangana separatists and the Seemandhra people, the TDP leaders demanded.