Revanth urges Center to award Bharat Ratna to Manmohan Singh

Former Supreme Court judge Justice B. Sudershan Reddy was felicitated by Telangana Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy after the unveiling of Dr Manmohan Singh’s statue in Hyderabad on Saturday. former Chief Justice of India NV Ramana; Ministers D Sridhar Babu, A Lakshman Kumar and MLA Arikepudi Gandhi are also seen.

Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy has urged the central government to confer the Bharat Ratna on former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and establish a knowledge center in his name in Delhi in recognition of his immense contribution to modern India.

“Some decisions have to be taken beyond political considerations,” he said, urging Prime Minister Narendra Modi to take the initiative, while saying that Telangana MPs would raise the issue in Parliament. He said Mr. Singh had taken the country’s economy to new heights with “quiet determination” and expressed disappointment that the Union government had not taken steps to create a permanent memorial in Delhi.

Mr Reddy was speaking after unveiling a statue of Manmohan Singh at Wipro Circle in Hyderabad’s financial district. He said the late Prime Minister’s contribution to the economic transformation of the country and the creation of Telangana would be remembered by future generations.

Mr. Revanth Reddy also praised Mr. Singh and former Congress president Sonia Gandhi for fulfilling the decades-old demand for a separate state of Telangana. A replica of Mr. Singh’s signature on the legislation for the creation of Telangana was displayed at the site.

Mr Revanth Reddy, who described Mr Singh as the “pride of the nation”, said the statue was installed in the financial district to commemorate his contribution to the Indian economy. Several institutions that play a key role in the country’s financial system operated from the area, he said.

Recalling Mr. Singh’s role as Governor of the Reserve Bank of India and Union Finance Minister in the PV Narasimha Rao government, the Chief Minister said he helped the country recover from the economic crisis of 1991. The policies of liberalization, privatization and globalization launched during that period transformed the Indian economy, he said.

He also cited the Right to Education Act, the Mahatma Gandhi Rural Employment Guarantee Act and the Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2013 as important measures introduced during Mr Singh’s regime. The Rehabilitation Act, he said, also provides compensation rights to the landless poor affected by land acquisition.

Former Chief Justice of India NV Ramana and former Supreme Court judge Justice B. Sudarshan Reddy shared their association with Mr. Singh as Prime Minister when they were judges. They remembered his simplicity and modest financial conditions, despite being the Prime Minister.

Former Economic Adviser Mohan Guruswamy, Ministers D. Sridhar Babu and Adluri Lakshman Kumar, MPs Vem Narender Reddy and Anil Kumar Yadav, MLAs Arekapudi Gandhi and Naveen Yadav, MLC Kuchukulla Damodar Reddy and senior officials attended the programme.

Published – 26 Sep 2026 21:24 IST