Telangana Governor Dr Tamilisai Soundararajan on Saturday expressed regret for not receiving invitation from the KCR government for the inauguration of the 125-ft statue of Dr B R Ambedkar, the father of the Indian Constitution, on Friday.
“Dr B.R.Ambedkar spoke more about women’s empowerment.But there was no invitation for the woman Governor.I felt very bad.” This was Governor Tamilisai on reacting to not being invited by the state government for the inauguration of the Ambedkar grand statue in Hyderabad on Friday, Ambedkar’s 132nd birth anniversary.
She said there was neither a call nor a letter from the state government inviting her to attend the Ambedkar statue inauguration on the banks of Hussainsagar lake.“Had I received the invitation, I would have definitely attended the event,” she said.
The statue, erected next to the new Secretariat complex by Hussainsagar in the heart of the city, was inaugurated by Chief Minister K.Chandrashekar Rao amidst much fanfare.
In a brief chat with reporters at the Raj Bhavan at a book release function on Saturday, the Governor said “I would have participated in the function for the great personality.Ambedkar is not only the father of our Constitution but he also spoke more about women’s empowerment.” “After waiting for the invitation until the last moment, I had to pay floral tributes to the portrait of Dr Ambedkar within the Raj Bhavan premises,” Tamilisai said.
Stating that Ambedkar had given a lot of importance to women’s rights, Tamilisai said it was surprising that the state government had chosen to ignore a woman Governor for such a prestigious program.Even as per protocol, the Governor should have been invited for such a program, she said.“I paid my tributes to Dr Ambedkar.But there was no invitation for the woman Governor.I also felt very bad,” She added.
Relations between the Raj Bhavan, and the state government have been rocky for the past couple of years with the Raj Bhavan maintaining that the government has been repeatedly insulting the Governor at every available opportunity, while the ruling BRS party leaders have been claiming that the Governor was at fault, and acts like an agent of the BJP party at every available opportunity.
