Centenary celebrations of former Prime Minister PV Narasimha Rao from July 24: TPCC Chief N Uttam Kumar Reddy

Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee (TPCC) President and Nalgonda MP Captain N Uttam Kumar Reddy on Sunday said that elaborate arrangements were being made to hold centenary celebrations of former Prime Minister PV Narasimha Rao from July 24.

Reddy announced this after a meeting of the TPCC Committee at Gandhi Bhavan on Sunday.

The meeting was attended by Committee Chairman Dr J Geetha Reddy, Honorary Chairman V Hanumantha Rao, Vice Chairman D Sridhar Babu, Convener Mahesh Kumar Goud, TPCC Working President A Revanth Reddy, MLA Seethakka, ex-MP Dr Mallu Ravi, AICC Spokesperson Dr Dasoju Sravan, SC Department Chairman Preetam, Bollu Kishan, Prem Lal, Venugopal and other senior leaders.

The TPCC chief said that the inaugural program of PVNR centenary celebrations would be held on July 24 at Indira Bhavan. Former Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh and former Union Ministers P Chidambaram and Jairam Ramesh will speak via video conference.

AICC President Sonia Gandhi, former Congress president Rahul Gandhi, former President of India Pranab Mukherjee, NCP Supremo Sharad Pawar and other senior leaders will send their messages. PVNR's brother PV Manohar Rao, who is also the Chief Patron of the Committee, will speak on the occasion. PVNR's son PV Prabhakar Rao and daughter V Devi will also send their messages.

Uttam Kumar Reddy said that it was an honour for the Congress leaders to celebrate the life and times of Narasimha Rao whose career still inspires lakhs of party workers across the country. Born on June 28, 1921, in a small village Laknepalli village of Narsampet Mandal, in Warangal district, Narasimha Rao had scaled great heights in whatever he did and his life was full of achievements.

He participated in the freedom movement as a student, completed a Master's Degree in law and also served as a journalist by editing a weekly magazine 'Kakatiya Patrika'. Starting as an ordinary worker of Congress party, PV was elected as Member of Legislative Assembly and stayed on the post for 20 years from 1957 to 1977.

He also served as a Cabinet Minister from 1962 to 1970 and handled various portfolios. He also became the Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh in 1971. The land reforms and land ceiling acts introduced by Narasimha Rao revolutionised society and empowered poor people. During his tenure as CM, he also played a major role in providing reservation for lower castes in politics.

The TPCC Chief said that Narasimha Rao entered the national level politics after he was elected as MP in 1972. In fact, he was the only politician who got elected to Lok Sabha from three different states (Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra and Odisha).

He handled several key portfolios like Home, Defence and Foreign Affairs in the cabinets of both Indira Gandhi and Rajiv Gandhi. He strengthened the Congress party at the national level after the assassination of the then Congress President and ex-PM Rajiv Gandhi in 1991. He ruled the country as the Prime Minister for full-term and restored political stability.

Uttam Kumar Reddy said that Narasimha Rao would be always remembered for the economic reforms and globalisation which he introduced to put India on the path of growth. He said it was PV's vision that turned India into economic power and made it distinct from other developing nations. He said the list of Narasimha Rao's achievements was too long and it could not be explained in one or two conferences. Therefore, he said that the TPCC would conduct various events, both at the State and district level, as part of centenary celebrations.

"We are very proud of the fact that Narasimha Rao belongs to Congress party and we are happy to celebrate his birth centenary," he said.

Uttam Kumar Reddy, along with other leaders, also released the poster of 'Chalo Mallaram' program being orgsed by the Scheduled Caste Department of TPCC on July 26. He said that the program was being orgsed to protest against the atrocities against Dalits under the TRS regime. He said a Dalit youth, Revuli Raja, was brutally murdered in Mallaram in Malhar Mandal of Bhupalpally district.

He said that the Congress party would expose the atrocities on Dalits in TRS rule and demand protection and justice for the victims. He reminded that CM KCR came to power in 2014 on the promise of making a Dalit CM. However, he himself grabbed the top position and unleashed atrocities on the Dalits to instill fear and insecurity among the community. He said that the Congress party would not tolerate any atrocities or injustice with Dalits and it would fight for their rights.

( With inputs from ANI )