Andhra’s Guntur, tricolor at Jinnah Tower sparked outrage

The Jinnah tower in Guntur, Andhra Pradesh, received a coat of tricolor on February 1. Mohammad Mustafa, a YSRCP MLA, organized the initiative. However, the Jinnah tower and its name have been the subject of intense political debate.

Here's a rundown of the recent month's political squabble in Andhra Pradesh between the BJP and the Jagan-led YSRCP administration.

The most well-known landmark in Guntur is the Jinnah Tower Centre, which is located on Mahatma Gandhi Road.

HORNS ARE LOCKED OVER THE JINNAH TOWER BY THE BJP AND THE YSRCP

On December 30, 2021, BJP National Secretary Y Satya Kumar tweeted that the Jinnah Tower Centre in Guntur, Andhra Pradesh, should be renamed.

“The tower is named after Jinnah and area as Jinnah Centre. The irony, it’s not in Pakistan but the Guntur City of AP. A centre that still carries the name of the traitor of India. Why shouldn’t it be named after Dr. Kalam or son of the soil, a great Dalit poet, Gurram Jashuva? Just an idea!”

Satya Kumar's tweet, which was thereafter reshared by other BJP leaders including Telangana BJP MLA Raja Singh and Andhra BJP president Somu Verraju, triggered a protest by Andhra Pradesh's ruling party, Yuvajana Sramika Rythu Congress Party (YSRCP).

Vishnuvardhan Reddy, a BJP leader, has challenged the Andhra government to rename the Jinnah tower or party supporters will demolish it and give the center a new name.

Lella Appireddy, a YSRCP party secretary and MLC, noted that veteran BJP leader L K Advani described Jinnah as the greatest secular liberation fighter and an ambassador for Hindus and Muslims during his 2005 tour to Pakistan.

He claimed that such a demand had never been made before in the history of the city and that it was a ruse to cause communal strife in Guntur.

ARREST DRAWS FLAK ON R-DAY

Andhra Pradesh Police blocked Hindu Vahini members from hoisting the national flag at Jinnah Tower on Republic Day, claiming that the celebrations could lead to communal unrest in the vicinity.

The BJP and other nationalist organizations slammed a video of police employing force to disperse Hindu Vahini workers from the site, despite it being published after a short time.

Following that, the Guntur mayor claimed that it was agreed to decorate the tower with the tricolor and build a pole adjacent to hoist the national flag at the request of numerous groups.

He claimed that BJP leaders are attempting to destabilize Guntur's tranquil environment, in which people of all communities and religions live in harmony.

“BJP state chief Somu Veerraju is trying to make an issue out of this and disturb the peace in the region,” he said.

JINNAH TOWER'S TRICOLOUR

The National Flag was painted on the Jinnah tower, which is located on Mahatma Gandhi Road in Guntur, Andhra Pradesh. YSRCP East Guntur MLA Mohammad Mustafa spearheaded the effort.

BJP leaders took to social media to condemn the Chief Minister Jagan Mohan Reddy-led administration for prohibiting Indians from hosting the Tricolor on Republic Day. BJP MP GVL Narasimha Rao took to Twitter to say that while the Indian flag was hoisted for the first time in Srinagar's Lal Chowk after Independence, the YSRCP government refused to allow the unfurling of the Tricolour atop a tower named after the country's divider. 

GLV Narasimha Rao also tweeted regarding the issue, here's what he said.

The Andhra Pradesh Police apprehended a group of activists on Wednesday who attempted to raise the Indian National Flag on Jinnah Tower in the state's Guntur district. According to accounts, when Hindu Vahini activists attempted to hoist the national flag on Jinnah Tower on India's 73rd Republic Day, police officers stationed nearby resisted the plan and detained them.