Andhra Pradesh: Jinnah Tower painted in tricolour amid controversy, BJP reacts

Amaravati, Feb 02: The Jinnah Tower in Andhra Pradesh's Guntur has been painted in Tricolour amid the controversy which erupted on January 26, on the occasion of Republic Day.

"On the request of various groups, it was decided to decorate the tower with the tricolour and to construct a pole to hoist the national flag near the tower," news agency ANI quoted Mustafa as saying.

Y Satya Kumar, BJP's national secretary, tweeted: "Painting the Jinnah Tower with tricolour will still not change the colour of your heart, Mr @ysjagan , which unfortunately, is still green with a crescent. Pay heed to people's demand & change the name of Jinnah tower!"

The BJP leader also described this as the BJP's win over 'pseudo-secular and anti-national forces', and posted: "BJP & the nationalist forces will not rest until the name of Jinnah is removed and same is named after Dr Abdul Kalam or Sri Gurram Jashuva."

Tension prevailed in the area on Jan 26 as some persons claiming to be from the Hindu Vahini outfit tried to march to the Jinnah Tower Centre in the city and hoist the tricolour, even as a large posse of police personnel was posted there to prevent such an act.

For some time now, the BJP and other Hindu organisations have been demanding that the Jinnah Tower, a pre-Independence era monument in Guntur, be renamed. They threatened to demolish the structure if the Jagan Mohan Reddy government did not pay heed to their demands.