Poverty is no bar to success, former Union minister Shiv Shankar is proof: Dy CM Bhatti
He was speaking at Ravindra Bharathi on Sunday at a meeting to mark Shiv Shankar's 96th birth anniversary. The event, organised by his son Dr Punjala Vinay Kumar, chairman of the TPCC Samvidhan Bachao Programme Committee, drew ministers, legislators, bureaucrats, activists and admirers. The Congress leadership resolved to install a statue of the former Union minister, who held key portfolios including Law, Petroleum and External Affairs, at a prominent location.
Bhatti recalled how Shiv Shankar, engaged in small jobs to support his family, went to Amritsar to pursue a law degree and overcame hardships through education. 'Nothing is impossible,' he said, staying late into the night to deliver his tribute.
Almost the entire Cabinet attended, including Irrigation Minister N Uttam Kumar Reddy, Transport Minister Ponnam Prabhakar, IT Minister D Sridhar Babu, Excise Minister Jupally Krishna Rao and Animal Husbandry Minister Vakiti Srihari, apart from TPCC chief B Mahesh Kumar Goud, MLAs Aadi Srinivas and Makkan Singh Raj Thakur, MLC Addanki Dayakar and former governor Bandaru Dattatreya. Many speakers said the recent passage of Bills providing 42% reservations for BCs was a true tribute to Shiv Shankar, who had fought the Congress high command to implement the Mandal Commission report.
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