HYDERABAD: BRS working president KT Rama Rao on Saturday alleged that the historic identity of Secunderabad is being deliberately erased by the Congress government. He said Hyderabad and Secunderabad have a rich historical background, and any move to undermine Secunderabad’s existence is unacceptable.
Addressing a press conference at the BRS headquarters here, the former IT minister said, “We read about the Tughlaqs in history books earlier, but now we are seeing such people in real life.” Slamming what he described as the Congress government’s foolish decisions, KTR said changing ‘TS’ to ‘TG’ had not benefited any poor person. Accusing the government of replacing the “Telangana Talli” statue with a “Congress Talli” statue, he said the move to remove the Kakatiya Thoranam and Charminar from the state emblem served no purpose.
KTR asserted that the K Chandrasekhar Rao government had initiated decentralisation with a broad vision to take governance closer to the people and ensure development reached the grassroots. “New villages, mandals, revenue divisions and districts were created. The number of districts was increased from 10 to 33. Even in Hyderabad, wards and zones were increased, and adequate development funds were provided,” he said.
He stated that Hyderabad and Secunderabad are symbols of the pride and identity of the people of Telangana, but due to what he termed “Tughlaq-like decisions” taken by Revanth Reddy, Secunderabad is in danger of completely losing its historical recognition.
The BRS working president said people from all sections in Secunderabad are united and protesting against the government’s decision. “People have invited our party to support their movement, and the elected representatives there are from our party,” he noted.
Stating that people born in Secunderabad are fighting to protect its identity, KTR said power was not given to erase the existence of cities or the identity of people.
“People gave power to implement guarantees and work for public welfare. But not even a single such promise has been fulfilled by the Congress government,” he alleged.
Referring to the proposed peace rally in Secunderabad, KTR said people and public representatives had planned a peaceful programme. “As per the people’s request, we were ready to proceed from Telangana Bhavan. But after saying till last night that permission was granted, the police suddenly claimed there was no permission and arrested thousands of corporators, former corporators, senior party leaders and common people,” he alleged.