ONGOLE: Congress MLA Balineni Sreenivasa Reddy boycotted the meeting organised to mark the conclusion of Praja Patham programme here on Saturday to protest against demolition of pedestal meant for installation of Mother Teresa statue near RDO office on Friday.

Mr. Sreenivasa Reddy was piqued that the officials had demolished the pedestal without consulting him. He felt that there was no need for the officials to demolish the pedestal stealthily at night. He pointed out that the Teresa statue committee was formed with some elders who are amenable to suggestions to shift the statue if the officials had any valid objections over the present site.

`Collector gave consent'

He said that there is enough space in front of RDO office to install the statues of both Mother Theresa and Dr. Ambedkar and beautify the area. He said that the Roads and Buildings Department, which owns the land, gave its consent for installation of Mother Teresa statue and the municipal council passed a resolution in favour of it. Even District Collector has approved the note file for installation of the statue. District Revenue Officer B. Rama Rao met Mr. Sreenivasa Reddy at his residence and tried to persuade him to attend the meeting where assets worth Rs. 10 crores were distributed among beneficiaries under various schemes but in vain. Mr. Sreenivasa Reddy refused to budge saying that as the officials were doing everything on their own, there was no need for him to attend the programme.

Officials were visibly embarrassed as none of the MLAs attended the program except Darsi MLA Buchepalli Subba Reddy.

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