Amaravati, March 16 () Andhra Pradesh Governor S. Abdul Nazeer and Chief Minister Y. S. Jagan Mohan Reddy on Thursday paid rich tributes to Amarajeevi Potti Sriramulu on his birth anniversary.
The governor said Potti Sriramulu made supreme sacrifice by laying down his life for the cause of a separate state Andhra and the dreams of Andhra people became a reality after he achieved martyrdom.
The Chief Minister paid floral tributes to Amarajeevi Potti Sriramulu on his birth anniversary at Secretariat here. State Finance Minister B Rajendranath and Chief Secretary K. S. Jawahar Reddy were also present.
Meanwhile, YSR Congress Party (YSRCP) celebrated the birth anniversary of Potti Sriramulu at the Party central office by paying tributes to the freedom fighter.
Assembly Deputy Speaker K Veerabhadra Swamy, former minister V Srinivasa Rao, MLA M Giridhar, YSRCP leader L Appi Reddy and other party leaders were present on the occasion.
Leader of opposition and Telugu Desam Party (TDP) president N. Chandrababu Naidu also paid tributes to Potti Sriraulu. He stated that the sacrifice made by Potti Sriramulu for the self-respect of the Telugu people is exceptional.
“The self-sacrifice of Sriramulu garu will be valued only when the Andhra people achieve development and make the state the leader in the country. Tributes to the immortal memory on the occasion of Sriramulu’s birth anniversary,” tweeted the former chief minister.
Potti Sriramulu died in 1952 after a 56-day hunger strike in Madras demanding a separate state for Telugu people. In 1953, Andhra State with Kurnool as the capital was carved out of then Madras State.
Following re-organisation of states on linguistic basis, Andhra State was merged with Telugu-speaking Telangana to form Andhra Pradesh in 1956.
Telangana was carved out of Andhra Pradesh as a separate state in 2014.
ms/svn/