Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)'s Telangana unit president Bandi Sanjay Kumar on Friday accused chief minister K Chandrashekar Rao of "not allowing" the 'Liberation Day' in Telangana on September 17, for the sake of minority vote bank.
His comments came after the several party leaders and workers were arrested by the police earlier in the day, following their march to the State Assembly demanding the official announcement of Telangana Liberation Day by the state government.
"The BJP leaders were marching to the state assembly under 'Chalo Assembly' Campaign, demanding official announcement of Telangana Liberation Day on September 17 by the state government. However, many party leaders were arrested while on their way to the Assembly. Some were also put under house arrest," Kumar alleged.
Accusing the CM of ignoring the day for minority vote bank, he added, "Before coming to power, Chandrashekar Rao had said that the that Liberation day must be officially celebrated in the state. But now he has completely forgotten, and is not announcing the same as this would make his party's All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) unhappy."
"The BJP has given a call for gherao and march to the Assembly to demand Telangana government to celebrate September 17 as the liberation of Hyderabad state and joining in the Indian union. When India got independence on August 15, 1947, we did not get it here. We got independence on September 17, 1948, as there was a police action against Nizam by Indian army and then it became part of India," BJP MLC Ramchander Rao observed.
Pointing out that his party was demanding the day to be celebrated as 'Liberation Day' for long, he added, "The Congress failed to take decision when it was in power on the same. Telugu Desham failed and now TRS Government failed to keep its promise.
"It is a historic moment for Telangana people. We demand the government today to celebrate it. Today hundreds of BJP leaders are getting arrested. The party condemns this act of undemocratic attitude of TRS Government," he added further.
( With inputs from ANI )
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