Telangana: Amidst controversy SPB’s statue unveiled, Revanth skips prog

Amidst controversy, the statue of iconic singer SP Balasubrahmanyam was unveiled at the Ravindra Bharati on Monday despite protests by a section of Telangana statehood activists who claimed he had refused to sing the state’s anthem “Jaya Jaya He Telangana.” However, in the absence of Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy, the statue was unveiled by former vice president M Venkaiah Naidu and state Industry Minister D Sridhar Babu.

Ahead of the unveiling of the statue, several activists protesting against it were put under house arrest by the police. The activists had opposed the statue of the popular playback singer, alleging that he had refused to sing the song of the Telangana movement, “Jaya Jaya He Telangana”, which was recently adopted by the state as its anthem. They demanded that statues like Telangana icon Gaddar and Ande Sri, who wrote the anthem, should be erected instead at Ravindra Bharathi.

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They found support in the president of Telangana Jagruthi, Kalvakuntla Kavitha, who argued that Ravindra Bharathi, the iconic state-owned auditorium, named after Rabindranath Tagore, should be reserved for folk artists from Telangana. She claimed that she was not against film artists, but there are other spots where their statues can be put up. Initially, it was reported that Chief Minister Revanth Reddy would be unveiling the statue along with the former vice president. However, only state Industry Minister D Sridhar Babu was present at the programme.

After unveiling the statue, former vice president Venkaiah Naidu recalled listening to the singer’s melodious voice during his childhood days in Nellore, where SP Balasubrahmanyam also grew up. He said, “I would like to compliment the Government of Telangana for taking the initiative and permitting the erection of this statue.” He added, “SP Balasubrahmanyam’s contribution will be remembered for generations to come in the states of Telangana and Andhra Pradesh and across the country, particularly by Telugu lovers who admired him.”

Industry Minister D Sridhar Babu described him as an artist who transcended linguistic and cultural boundaries. The legendary singer had rendered more than 40,000 songs in 14 Indian languages, proving the universal appeal of music.

Apart from the family members of SPB, as he was popularly known, the programme was attended by several BJP leaders, including state president N Ramachander Rao and former governor Bandaru Dattatreya. There has been a persistent demand from his fans in both Telugu states that SPB should be posthumously conferred with Bharat Ratna.