Congress “double standards” to the fore, charges Bandi Sanjay

Union Cabinet Minister and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Bandi Sanjay Kumar. File.
| Photo Credit: G N RAO

Former BJP Telangana president and Union Minister of State for Defence Bandi Sanjay Kumar, on Sunday, said the Congress government’s proposed ‘Praja Palana Dinotsvam’ celebrations on September 17 is yet another sign of its “double standards” and “duplicitous” stance on the Hyderabad Liberation Day.

“Who asked the State government to change the nomenclature to ‘Praja Palana Dinotsvam’? Does it mean there was no people’s governance in the previous regimes of the party? It has no right to talk about Telangana when around 1,500 lives were lost during the agitation for separate State,” he said.

Addressing a press conference at the Parade Grounds after inaugurating a photo exhibition along with Rajya Sabha MP K. Laxman and other party leaders, he charged that “one party made use of ‘Telangana’ name, looted the State and was kicked out by the people. The same fate also awaits this government if it chooses to ignore people’s sentiments. Both parties are known for boastful talk,” he told mediapersons on Sunday.

Acknowledging that he had received the government’s invitation for the programme, he said the party leaders are ready to attend if the ‘Praja Palana Dinotsvam’ name is changed. “They (Congress leaders) can attend our Hyderabad Liberation Day celebrations here at Parade Grounds after their official function. There is no harm in having two programmes and our programme is apolitical,” he maintained.

The BJP leader wondered why the Congress had never bothered to celebrate Liberation Day when in power and took objection to Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy praising Majlis leaders when the party itself is “an offshoot of the Razakkars responsible for atrocities on the people of Telangana during the Nizam’s rule”.

The Modi government has decided to make people aware of the circumstances in which the Hyderabad State was joined into the Indian Union through Operation Polo by the then Home Minister Sardar Patel. “Did they (Congress party) ever recognise the services of valiant freedom fighters behind the Telangana struggle or even Sardar Patel,” asked Mr. Sanjay Kumar.

He also called for inclusion of Sardar Patel’s life and that of many unsung martyrs in the textbooks for the future generations to understand their contributions.

Earlier, legislature party leader A. Maheshwar Reddy told another press meet that Congress-ruled Karnataka has been celebrating the day and there is no reason for Telangana government to do the same instead of getting “worried” about losing minority votes or “fearing” Majlis party. Even if the Chief Minister tries to coin a new nomenclature for the day, people of Telangana were well aware of Liberation Day struggles, he maintained.