Hyderabad, Sep 16 (PTI) Defence Minister Rajnath Singh will be the chief guest at the ‘Hyderabad Liberation Day’ celebrations to be organised by the Union government at Parade Grounds here on Wednesday.
The event is held to celebrate the anniversary of the merger of the erstwhile Hyderabad State under Nizam rule with the Indian Union on September 17, 1948.
Union Culture Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat, Union Coal and Mines Minister G Kishan Reddy and Union MoS (Home) Bandi Sanjay Kumar would also be present on the occasion, BJP sources said here on Tuesday.
The Defence minister arrived at the Begumpet airport here Tuesday evening. He was welcomed by state BJP president N Ramchander Rao and other party leaders. Kishan Reddy and Sanjay Kumar called on Singh.
Recalling the stellar role played by the country’s first Deputy Prime Minister Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel in the unification of the erstwhile princely state of Hyderabad with the Indian Union, Ramchander Rao urged citizens to attend the function at Parade Grounds in large numbers.
The Central government has been organising the ‘Liberation Day’ for the last several years.
Union Home Minister Amit Shah had attended the celebrations in 2023.
Meanwhile, the Telangana government would celebrate the day as ‘Praja Palana Dinotsavam’ (celebration of people’s governance day).
September 17, 1948 is interpreted differently by different parties in Telangana.
Asserting that September 17 marks the liberation of the erstwhile Hyderabad State from the tyrannical rule of Nizam, the BJP for the last two decades has been demanding that the day be celebrated officially by the state government.
BJP leaders allege that successive governments in undivided Andhra Pradesh and after the formation of Telangana refused to officially celebrate September 17 due to appeasement and vote bank politics.
While the BJP calls it a ‘liberation day’, the previous BRS regime had celebrated the day as ‘National Integration Day’.
The incumbent Congress government celebrates the day as ‘Telangana Praja Palana Dinotsavam”.
The CPI commemorates September 17 as the successful culmination of ‘Telangana Armed Struggle’ led by the Communists, which the party says forced the Nizam to merge Hyderabad State with the Indian Union. PTI SJR SJR SA
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