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Hyderabad merger day latest point of tussle among parties ahead of polls
Major political parties in Telangana seek to reignite Telangana sentiment by celebrating September 17 as Telangana Liberation Day.
As the elections to the Telangana state assembly are fast approaching, major political parties in the state are seeking to reignite the Telangana sentiment by celebrating the historic day of September 17 marking the annexation of erstwhile Hyderabad state with Indian Union in 1948.
Since the formation of Telangana state in June 2014, it has been the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) which has been demanding the celebration of September 17 as the “Telangana Liberation Day” stating that it was on this day that the Telangana region was liberated from the Muslim ruler Mir Osman Ali Khan, the seventh Nizam, and merged with India.
However, the Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) government led by K Chandrasekhar Rao had been ignoring the demand. KCR had also demanded during the combined Andhra Pradesh regime that September 17 be officially celebrated as Telangana Merger Day. Those days, he was waging a battle for separate Telangana state and he had to whip up the Telangana sentiment to achieve his goal.
In an attempt to capture power in Telangana in 2023, the BJP brought pressure on the Centre last year to declare September 17 as Telangana Liberation Day officially.
So, on September 17, 2022, the government of India announced official celebrations on the day on a grand scale at Secunderabad Parade Ground with Union home minister Amit Shah attending as the chief guest. There were official ceremonies and march past by Central security force contingents and Shah addressed an impressive public rally later.
This year, too, the Centre chose to hold celebrations in Hyderabad on September 17. Union tourism minister and state BJP president G Kishan Reddy said on Friday that the Telangana Liberation Day programmes would be held at the same parade grounds.
“We have decided to hold the official celebrations of Telangana Liberation Day on behalf of the Centre in a big way. We shall rekindle the spirit of Telangana as we got liberated from the despotic rule of the Nizam on that day,” Kishan Reddy said.
Though there is no official confirmation yet, a state BJP leader said on condition of anonymity that Amit Shah might attend the September 17 celebrations this year, too. “This year assumes more significance because of the upcoming elections and Shah is expected to deliver a fiery speech to attack the BRS government,” he said.
For the Congress, too, it has become inevitable to celebrate September 17 in a big way considering the assembly elections. Pradesh Congress Committee working president Mahesh Kumar Goud said a series of programmes were lined up on the day to commemorate the annexation of erstwhile Hyderabad state into the Indian Union.
“The day is all the more significant to us because on this day, the Congress Working Committee would have an extended session in Hyderabad, followed by a massive public meeting on the outskirts of Hyderabad to be addressed by top leaders of the Congress including Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi, Priyanka Gandhi and Mallikarjun Kharge,” Goud said.
While highlighting the significance of Telangana securing freedom from the Nizam rule on September 17, the Congress also chose the day to remind the people of the state that it was Sonia Gandhi who had taken the initiative in granting statehood to Telangana.
“It was the Congress government under the leadership of Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru and Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel which was responsible for securing freedom to Telangana region from the Nizam rule in 1948. It was again the Congress led by Sonia Gandhi which was responsible for the formation of separate Telangana state in 2014,” the Congress leader said.
In fact, PCC president A Revanth Reddy said at a public rally held at Chevella in Rangareddy district on August 26 that the Congress had made sacrifices to liberate Hyderabad from the Nizams. He recalled that AICC president Mallikarjun Kharge was born in the Nizam-ruled Hyderabad state and the members of Kharge’s family had been killed by the Razakars, the private army of the Nizams.
The BRS government, which had ignored the significance of the day for long, suddenly announced the celebration of September 17 as Telangana National Integration Day last year, following a letter from All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) president and Hyderabad MP Asaduddin Owaisi.
The chief minister unfurled the tricolour at the Public Gardens to mark the celebrations on that day. This year, too, the BRS government called for official celebrations at all district headquarters in the state.
