Telangana Assembly urges Bharat Ratna for Manmohan Singh

The Telangana Legislative Assembly on Monday passed a unanimous resolution calling on the central government to confer the Bharat Ratna on former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, who passed away on December 26 at the age of 92.

The session began at 10 am with Speaker G Prasad Kumar convening the Assembly. Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy moved the motion to condole Singh’s death and express gratitude for his role in the formation of Telangana state in 2014.

Reddy highlighted Singh's contributions, including landmark legislations such as the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (NREGA), the Right to Information Act, and the Land Acquisition Act, which were introduced under his leadership.

Following a discussion, the resolution was passed unanimously by members across party lines, with the Assembly also observing a two-minute silence in tribute to the late leader. However,



Leader of Opposition K Chandrashekar Rao did not attend the session.

Reddy described Singh's death as an “irreparable loss for the country” and praised his leadership in fulfilling the aspirations of Telangana. He announced that the state government would install a statue of Singh in the financial district of Hyderabad in recognition of his contributions.

In support of the motion, BRS Working President KT Rama Rao called Singh "the silent architect of modern India." He also suggested that the Assembly pass a separate resolution urging the Centre to set up a memorial for former Prime Minister PV Narasimha Rao in the national capital.

BJP floor leader Maheshwar Reddy expressed his party's support for the condolence motion but made comments regarding Rahul Gandhi, which led to objections from Legislative Minister Sridhar Babu. The minister requested the Speaker to expunge Reddy's remarks.