Bharat Rashtra Samithi supremo and former Telangana chief minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao along with party senior leaders paying homage to the people who lost their lives for a separate Telangana at the Telangana Martyrs Memorial at Gun Park, ahead of Telangana State Formation Day celebrations in Hyderabad on June 1, 2024.
| Photo Credit: NAGARA GOPAL
Bharat Rashtra Samiti (BRS) president and former Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao has rejected the Congress government’s invitation to participate in the decennial celebrations of Telangana’s formation.
KCR said that the Congress party’s attempts to portray itself as the sole entity responsible for the creation of the new State, excluding his and his party’s contributions, and other organisations, were not acceptable. He demanded that the Congress should apologise for the deaths of youths during the Telangana movement.
Open letter to CM
In an eight-page open letter to Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy, KCR accused the Congress of “moral bankruptcy” for its campaign on the formation of Telangana, which it presented as a charitable act rather than the result of a prolonged struggle and the sacrifices of many.
He added that the movement, which began in 1969, evolved through various phases, and Congress had always hindered the cause. He recollected the 1952 Mulki movement, where four students were killed because of the “Congress’ brutal attitude against Telangana’s aspirations”.
“The Martyrs’ Memorial bears testimony to the tyranny of the Congress, which shot dead 369 youths in the first phase of the Telangana movement. The stubbornness of the Congress, which prevented even that stupa from being unveiled, is recorded in the pages of Telangana’s history. It is the sin of Congress that claimed the lives of hundreds of youths in the second phase too,” he said.
TRS emergence
KCR asserted that the emergence of TRS (now BRS) was a historical effort to rectify the ‘injustices’ done by the Congress in Telangana. He highlighted the TRS’ peaceful and parliamentary approach to achieving statehood as a turning point.
He also lashed out at the Congress government for its “failure to fulfil the poll promises”, accused it of betraying the people of Telangana.
In a personal attack on Mr. Revanth Reddy, KCR said that the former had not uttered the word “Jai Telangana” even once since Congress came to power in the State. He also criticised the Chief Minister for not visiting the Martyrs’ Memorial at Gun Park to pay tributes to martyrs.
