BJP slams TRS for 'non-participation' in 'Rashtriya Ekta Diwas' events

Hyderabad: Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) demanded that the Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) government in Telangana should explain to the people why Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao or state ministers "did not participate" in events related to 'Rashtriya Ekta Diwas' on Monday.

Noting that the NDA government at the Centre had announced its decision to observe Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel's birth anniversary as 'Rashtriya Ekta Diwas', state BJP chief K Laxman wondered whether Rao would have become the Chief Minister had Patel not ensured "freedom" for the region in 1948 (from Nizam's rule).

Laxman, who along with other senior BJP leaders, garlanded the statue of Patel in Hyderabad, hit out at the TRS government for not officially celebrating September 17, as "Telangana Liberation Day".

Union Minister Bandaru Dattatreya said the credit for merging more than 500 princely states, including Hyderabad, with the Indian Union goes to Patel.

The Nizam of Hyderabad would not have surrendered and Telangana too would not have been formed now, he said.