BRS MLC Kavitha slams Telangana CM for "ignoring" Ambedkar statue, warns of protest

Hyderabad (Telangana) [India], February 20 : BRS MLC Kalvakuntla Kavitha criticised Telangana Chief Minister Revanth Reddy for not honouring the 125-foot Ambedkar statue in Hyderabad, accusing him of disrespecting Dr BR Ambedkar and his legacy.
She demanded that the entire Cabinet visit the statue on Ambedkar Jayanti (April 14) to pay their respects or face protests.
"There is a 125-foot-tall Dr BR Ambedkar statue in Hyderabad, installed by KCR garu on the 125th birth anniversary of Baba Saheb Ambedkar. It has been 14 months since this Congress government came to power, yet neither a minister nor any (Congress) worker has taken care of the statute," Kavitha told ANI.
She urged Congress leader Rahul Gandhi to instruct the Telangana government to show respect.
"They have not garlanded Ambedkar ji in the last 14 months. I demand from Rahul Gandhi ji that you talk about respecting Ambedkar ji and the Constitution, to tell your CM and the Cabinet to respect the statue. We demand that the govt, with the entire Cabinet, garland the statue and pay respects to Baba Saheb Ambedkar," she added.
Warning of a direct action if the government fails to act, she said, "If this is not done before April 14, we will go there ourselves, break the gates if needed, and pay tribute to Ambedkar's statue."
Meanwhile, on February 2, the central government formed a six-member delegation in Amritsar to investigate the vandalism of a life-size Ambedkar statue.
On Republic Day, a youth climbed atop the statue and struck it with a hammer. A video of the incident went viral on social media, sparking outrage.