Hyderabad: This year, the state is in a unique situation. The Central government has announced that it will officially celebrate Telangana Liberation Day on September 17. This day marks the liberation of the people of Hyderabad Samsthan, who fought against the Nizam’s rule and his private army, the Razakars. The state government, however, has chosen to celebrate the same day but renamed it as Praja Paalana Dinotsvam or “People’s Governance Day.”
Interestingly, both the Centre and the state invited each other to their respective celebrations. The Centre invited Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy to attend the Liberation Day event at Parade Grounds. Meanwhile, the Chief Minister invited Union Minister G Kishan Reddy to the state’s event at Public Gardens.
Kishan Reddy, while thanking the state for the invitation, declined to attend. He criticized the renaming of the day, saying it distracts people from the true struggle and historical significance of the event. He expressed concern that calling it just a change from monarchy to democracy overlooks the heroic fight of the people and promotes political appeasement.
On the other hand, Revanth Reddy declined the Centre’s invitation, stating he was busy with official state functions.
Adding to the complexity, the Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS), which did not celebrate this day officially during its 10 years in power, accused the new Congress-led government of politicizing history by renaming the day as People's Governance Day.
BRS leader Dasoju Shravan argued that the state’s decision distorts historical facts and aligns with the Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) approach to rewriting history. He emphasized that September 17, 1948, is a crucial date in Telangana’s history, as it marks the integration of Hyderabad State into India after Operation Polo. Different political parties commemorate this day in various ways: the BJP calls it Hyderabad Liberation Day, the Communists call it Telangana Betrayal Day, the BRS refers to it as Telangana National Integration Day, and the Congress traditionally calls it Telangana Merger Day.
Meanwhile, BJP MP and OBC Morcha national president K Laxman said both the BRS and Chief Minister Revanth Reddy are afraid of the AIMIM party. He claimed that this is why the BRS never celebrated the day officially during its rule and accused the Congress of following the same policy of appeasement.
