Telangana To Celebrate September 17 As ‘National Integration Day’, Says KCR’s Party

Hyderabad:

The Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) will celebrate ‘National Integration Day’ on September 17, the day the erstwhile Hyderabad State under Nizam rule merged with the Indian Union in 1948, party leader and Telangana Minister K T Rama Rao said on Sunday.

BRS working president Rama Rao also asked party cadres to take part in the National Integration Day celebrations in large numbers and celebrate the event in a grand manner across the state, a party release said.

BRS President and Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrashekhar Rao will take part in the celebrations in Hyderabad, he said.

The ministers will take part and hoist the tricolour in the celebrations to be organised by the state government on a grand scale in all the District headquarters, Rama Rao said.

“People of Telangana would celebrate September 17 as National Integration Day,” he said and called upon the party ranks to organise the celebrations in their respective places.

In the 10 years since its formation, Telanagana has been riding on the twin horses of development and welfare, Rama Rao, also known as KTR said.

Telangana has emerged as a role model for other states in the country by undertaking innovative development. Unable to digest this, some political parties have been slinging mud on the government, he said and alleged that they are even conspiring against the celebration of National Integration Day.

People should be wary of forces that were seeking to mingle religion into everything and cause a rift in the society, Rama Rao said.

September 17, the day the then princely state of Hyderabad merged with the Indian Union in 1948, is interpreted differently by different parties in Telangana.

The Union Government and different political parties have planned to organise events in Hyderabad to celebrate the day.

The BRS government had declared the day last year as National Integration Day.

Union Home Minister Amit Shah had participated in the official celebration of the ‘Hyderabad Liberation Day’ held by the Centre in Hyderabad last year and he is expected to attend the event in the Telangana capital this year as well.

Describing September 17, 1948 as ‘Liberation Day’, the BJP has been fighting for its official celebration by government for about two decades now.

The Congress had earlier said the party will hold a “mega rally” near Hyderabad on September 17, where it will announce five guarantees for Telangana ahead of the Legislative Assembly elections.

The AIMIM Party said it will be organising a bike rally and public meeting on the occasion of ‘National Integration Day’ on September 17.

Union Tourism Minister and BJP president in Telangana G Kishan Reddy on Saturday hit out at the Congress and BRS for not officially celebrating September 17 during their tenure in office allegedly under the influence of AIMIM.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)