KCR Stays Away From Amit Shah Event

Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao stayed away from the Hyderabad Liberation Day celebrations organised by the union culture ministry on Saturday to mark the erstwhile Hyderabad State's accession to the Indian Union.

With the State government itself celebrating September 17 as Telangana National Integration Day, the Chief Minister chose to skip the event organised by the union government, which had Union Home Minister Amit Shah hoisting the national flag and reviewing a colourful parade by the Central paramilitary forces.

Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and Karnataka's Transport Minister B Sriramulu attended the union government's event.

The union government organised official celebrations to mark the liberation of Hyderabad State, for the first time, given the 75th year of the event starts today.

Union Minister for Tourism and Culture G Kishan Reddy said that he had invited the Chief Ministers of Telangana, Karnataka and Maharashtra for the event, and had urged them to attend it as it was a government programme. He criticised the TRS government for staying away from the celebrations and for conducting other programmes in the name of the Telangana Integration Day.

The Telangana government took a decision to not join the celebrations of the union government, and decided to conduct three-day long Telangana National Integration Day celebrations separately to mark the occasion. As part of its celebrations, rallies were organised across Telangana on Friday, and national flags were hoisted at all government offices today.

Erstwhile Hyderabad State, which was spread over Telangana and parts of Maharashtra and Karnataka, acceded to the Indian Union on September 17, 1948, following India's military operation.