Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy has been projected as being intent on erasing or overturning anything seen as being a legacy of his predecessor, N. Chandrababu Naidu. This has usually manifested itself in the demolition of buildings and renaming of schemes.
However, the YSR Congress Party's move on Monday to rename a popular awards scheme named after former president A.P.J. Abdul Kalam evoked considerable political outrage and Jagan has backtracked.
On Monday, the YSRCP government issue a government order renaming the Dr APJ Abdul Kalam Pratibha Puraskar awards as the YSR Vidya Puraskars in honour of Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy, former Andhra Pradesh chief minister and Jagan's father.
Within hours of issuing the government order, Jagan issued oral orders to immediately cancel it on Tuesday. Jagan ordered the immediate cancellation of the government order and further ordered the reinstatement of the award as the Dr APJ Abdul Kalam Pratibha Puraskar awards.
According to CMO officials, “Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy ordered the officials to revoke the GO to change 'Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam Pratibha Puraskar Awards' to 'YSR Vidya Puraskar' after it had come to his notice. He warned the officials and firmly said that the awards should continue in the name of Dr APJ Abdul Kalam.”
In addition, Jagan ordered officials to present other state awards in the names of reformers such as Mahatma Gandhi, Ambedkar, Jyotirao Phule and Jagjivan Ram.
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In 2017, the N. Chandrababu Naidu government had decided to name the Andhra Pradesh Pratibha awards—which are given to students who excelled in class 10 exams—after Kalam. The awards were scheduled to be given on November 11.
Reacting to the government order of Monday renaming the Dr APJ Abdul Kalam Pratibha Puraskar awards, Amit Malviya, chief of the BJP's IT operations, said, "It is not surprising that Jagan thinks his late father was a more accomplished scientist and academic than Bharat Ratna Dr A P J Abdul Kalam. After all he comes from a party, which named every award, scheme, stadium, road, airport etc, after members of the Nehru-Gandhi family."
It is not surprising that Jagan thinks his late father was a more accomplished scientist and academic than Bharat Ratna Dr A P J Abdul Kalam. After all he comes from a party, which named every award, scheme, stadium, road, airport etc, after members of the Nehru-Gandhi family... https://t.co/4AyjTsl894
— Amit Malviya (@amitmalviya) November 5, 2019
Naidu had also tweeted on the move, writing, "Dr. Kalam has accomplished much for the nation with his inspiring life. @ysjagan’s govt changing 'APJ Abdul Kalam Pratibha Puraskar' to 'YSR Vidya Puraskar' is a shocking method of self-aggrandizement at the cost of disrespecting a much venerated man."
(With inputs from Rahul Devulapalli)
