HYDERABAD: The TRS government kicked off the Telangana Integration Day celebrations on Friday with much fanfare, signalling the commencement of a see-saw battle with the BJP in turning the tide of public opinion in its favour.
With Union Home Minister Amit Shah all set to lead the BJP team in the tug of war armed with Centre’s brand of Hyderabad Liberation Day celebrations on Saturday, Hyderabad has become a theatre for both the parties to exhibit their talents in earning brownie points with the people.
The State government set the tone for Saturday’s Integration Day celebrations by organising rallies all over Telangana and illuminating the public buildings on Friday to gain the upper hand over the BJP. The State government had remained cold to the demand for the celebration of the occasion since the formation of the State in 2014 as it believed that it would be like opening the proverbial Pandora’s Box.
But with the BJP, which had set its eyes on capturing power in Telangana in the next elections, announcing Hyderabad Liberation Day celebrations to rile the Muslims and thus polarise the Hindus in its favour, TRS supremo and Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao was forced to come up with a political antidote.
In a clever move, he named the celebrations as the commemoration of the integration of Hyderabad State into the Indian Union which made him a staunch integrationist and at the same time successful in painting the BJP as being divisive.
The Chief Minister will kick-start the year-long celebrations by hoisting the national flag at the Public Gardens while in all districts’ headquarters, the Ministers and other dignitaries will unfurl the national flag.
On Saturday evening, the Chief Minister will drive to NTR Stadium where he is expected to explain how deadly will be the potion of communalism that the BJP was advocating in the name of Liberation Day.
He would also inaugurate Banjara Bhavan and Adivasi Bhavan to send out a message that the interests of the tribals were close to his heart, which is being seen as yet another move to scuttle BJP’s image that it alone cared for them after making Droupadi Murmu as the President of India.
Ever since the BJP announced that it would celebrate September 17 as Hyderabad Liberation Day, the Chief Minister has been taking several measures to keep himself ahead of the BJP. One such masterstroke was hitting the BJP where it hurt most by announcing that the new Secretariat building coming up now will be named after BR Ambedkar to throw a pail of old water on the enthusiasm of the BJP leaders ahead of the September 17 celebrations.
Filled with the moral strength that he had acquired, Rao then dared the BJP whether it was ready to name the new Parliament building after Ambedkar to which there was no satisfactory answer yet.
A Theatre for exhibition of talents
With Union Home Minister Amit Shah all set to lead the BJP team in the tug of war armed with Centre’s brand of Hyderabad Liberation Day celebrations on Saturday, Hyderabad has become a theatre for both the parties to exhibit their talents in earning brownie points. The State government set the tone for Integration Day celebrations by organising rallies all over TS
Celebrations at NTR Stadium
On Saturday evening, Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao will be at NTR Stadium where he is expected to explain how deadly the potion of communalism that the BJP was advocating in the name of Liberation Day will be. Ever since the BJP announced that it would celebrate September 17 as Hyderabad Liberation Day, the Chief Minister has been taking several measures to keep himself ahead of the BJP.