After Amit Shah, KCR unfurls Tricolour at different venue for same event

A few minutes after Union home minister Amit Shah hoisted the national flag at parade grounds marking the celebrations of ‘Hyderabad Liberation Day’, Telangana chief minister K Chandrashekar Rao or KCR on Saturday unfurled the Tricolour on Telangana Jateeya Samaikyata Dinotsavam (Telangana National Integration Day) elsewhere in Hyderabad – to mark 75 years of Hyderabad’s annexation to the Indian union.

“My heartfelt wishes to the people of Telangana on the occasion of Telangana Jateeya Samaikyata Dinotsavam. On September 17, 1948, Telangana became an integral part of India. It transformed from dynastic rule into the democratic phase,” news agency PTI quoted KCR as saying at the event.

KCR said the state recently celebrated the 75 years of Independence Day in grandeur manner for 15 days. The state government had on September 3 announced its decision to observe September 17 as Telangana National Integration Day.

September 17 is the day erstwhile Hyderabad State under Nizam rule merged with the Indian Union in 1948.

The Centre is holding an event to commemorate ‘Hyderabad Liberation Day’ with the home minister as the chief guest.

Addressing the grand ‘Liberation Day’ celebrations in Hyderabad, Shah on called it a ‘historic day’ for the city whose history goes long back. “If not for Sardar Patel, Hyderabad would have taken more years to get liberated,” Shah told the massive gathering at the public rally.

On Twitter, Shah greeted the people of Telangana, Hyderabad-Karnataka, and Marathwada on ‘Hyderabad Liberation Day’ and hailed them for their courageous fight against the “atrocities” of the ‘Razakars’ to merge the region into the Union of India.