On YSR’s tenth death anniversary, CM Jagan reinstates father’s statue in Vijayawada

The statue, which was first installed in 2011, had been removed by the TDP government in 2016 citing obstruction to traffic.

news News

On the tenth death anniversary of former Andhra Chief Minister YS Rajasekhar Reddy, his son YS Jagan Mohan Reddy, who is the present Chief Minister, unveiled a reinstated statue of YSR in Vijayawada on Monday.

The statue was removed by the former Telugu Desam Party government in 2016 as a part of road widening work, considering it an obstruction to movement of traffic. The YSR statue, which is said to have been kept away for the past three years in the Fire Station building, was reinstated in a park near the junction from where it was removed.

Tributes were paid to YSR by party leaders and family members across Andhra Pradesh on Monday. Jagan also paid floral tributes at the grave of his father at Idupulapaya in Kadapa district.

YSR was killed in a helicopter crash with four others in Kurnool district on September 2, 2009. This is the first death anniversary of YSR after the Jagan Mohan Reddy-led YSRCP came to power in Andhra.

Jagan Reddy tweeted on Monday, "Though he has physically left us, he will always live in the form of his schemes. His inspiration will continue to guide us to follow in the path of values," Jagan wrote.

Minister for Urban Development Botsa Satyanarayana said that the park has also been renamed as YSR Park.

The Congress party in the state also observed the occasion, paying tribute to YSR in different parts of the state. Jagan had floated the YSR Congress Party after his father’s demise, coming to power with a massive mandate in the recent elections. The reinstated statue was first installed in 2011 across the Police Control Room by Lagadapati Rajagopal, who was then the Congress MP from Vijayawada.

IANS inputs