Hyderabad, January 2024: The spouse and son of former union minister and Telangana movement leader Dr. Mallikarjun, Mrs. Bhagyalakshmi Mallikarjun and Mr. Manu Mallikarjun called on the Chief Minister of Telangana Mr. A. Revanth Reddy, at his residence today. They made a formal request for recognition by the state government of Dr. Mallikarjun’s contributions towards the development of the nation and Telangana statehood movement by installing astatue of his at a prominent location at Hyderabad. They were accompanied by former M.L.A Mr. Gurunath Reddy, former MLC K. Yadava Reddy, Kodangal Municipal Chairman Mr. Jagadish Reddy, DCC President (Narayanpet) Mr. K. Prashanth Reddy and former MPP Mr. Mudappa Reddy.
Dr. Mallikarjun had served in the cabinets of Prime Ministers Indira Gandhi and P.V. Narasimha Rao holding wide-ranging critical portfolios like Defence and Railways. He is also remembered for the development of Mahabubnagar parliamentary constituency from where he was elected to the Lok Sabha four times and that of Medak that elected him twice as Member of Parliament, apart from his pivotal role in the decades long struggle for statehood for Telangana.
His commitment to the Telangana movement began with the Telangana agitation of 1969 in which he played a central role as a student union leader while studying medicine at Osmania University. His lifelong support to the cause of statehood to Telangana culminated in his founding and leading the Congress Forum for Telangana, before his untimely demise on 24th December, 2002. He had also held the position of APCC President during the years 1996-1998.