Hyderabad: BJP State President N. Ramchander Rao on Sunday demanded immediate regularisation of podu lands by the Congress government in Telangana. He also asked it to introduce ST reservations without further delay, honouring a pre-election promise to tribals.
Ramchander Rao accused both the previous BRS government and the present Congress government of seriously betraying tribals. Neither kept its promises to the community, he said.
The Telangana BJP chief spoke to reporters after offering floral tributes to a portrait of Bhagwan Birsa Munda. Union Minister G. Kishan Reddy joined him at the Komaram Bheem statue on Tank Bund Road.
The BJP Telangana State ST Morcha organised a ‘Janjatiya Gaurav Divas’ (Tribal Pride Day) rally to mark Birsa Munda’s 151st birth anniversary. The rally started at the Swami Vivekananda statue and then ended at the Sri Komaram Bheem statue.
Ramchander Rao recalls Birsa Munda’s struggle while raising podu lands issue
Ramchander Rao said the country was celebrating the anniversary in a grand manner. Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the President also took part in the celebrations in the national capital, he said.
He praised Birsa Munda for fighting the British Empire for the rights of “Jal, Jungle, Zameen” (water, forest and land). According to Rao, Birsa Munda fought relentlessly for the rights of Adivasis and tribals. His struggle took place in what was then Bihar and is now Jharkhand. The people there still revere him as ‘Bhagwan’ (God), he said.
Ramchander Rao said the Modi government declared Birsa Munda’s birth anniversary ‘Janjatiya Gaurav Divas’ to honour the courage of a tribal son. He described the day as a symbol of tribal self-respect.
He also noted that many tribal leaders fought the British on one side and the Nizam’s tyranny in Telangana on the other. Celebrating Birsa Munda’s anniversary before the statue of Komaram Bheem was deeply inspiring, he said.