HYDERABAD: The opposition BRS leaders and activists observed Vijay Diwas across the state on Tuesday, marking the 16th anniversary of the Union government’s historic December 9, 2009 announcement to create Telangana.
Participating in a programme organised at Telangana Bhavan, former minister T Harish Rao said that December 9 would remain a day written in golden letters in the history of Telangana. He recalled that the announcement for statehood was the outcome of the indefinite fast launched by former chief minister and BRS president K Chandrasekhar Rao on November 29, 2009.
“If KCR had not risked his life and continued his relentless fight, the December 9 declaration would not have come. Today’s Telangana is the result of KCR’s fast and the sacrifices of martyrs,” he said.
Attacking Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy, Harish Rao said: “When we speak of history — KCR means struggle, KCR means sacrifice. But Revanth Reddy means backstabbing and betrayal.”
He alleged that during the Telangana movement, when leaders were asked to resign as a mark of protest, Revanth Reddy deceived the people by giving a Xerox copy of his resignation letter.
Accusing the chief minister of “lacking values”, he added that Revanth had once taken up a rifle against activists and was now changing the Telangana Talli statue.
Harish Rao further claimed that Revanth had earlier hailed Sonia Gandhi as a “sacrificial goddess” for announcing Telangana on December 9 and later withdrawn those remarks, but was now saying that he would build a temple for her.
Asserting that KCR would fight again on behalf of the people, Harish Rao said he was confident that the former chief minister would return to power. “As long as Telangana exists, KCR’s name will be written in golden letters in history,” he said.