BJP criticises TRS govt on 'Hyderabad Liberation Day'

The BJP on Thursday hit out at the TRS government in Telangana for not officially celebrating the 'Hyderabad Liberation Day' and preventing it from organising the event inside Golconda Fort in Hyderabad.

Police on Wednesday took BJP leaders and activists into preventive custody when they attempted to go to the historic Golconda Fort here for hoisting the National Flag to celebrate the day. BJP has been demanding for years that the Day, when the erstwhile state of Hyderabad was merged with Indian Union in 1948, be celebrated officially.

"People believed in what you said and voted for you (in elections). The first liberation day celebrations after you came to power, you do that by a lathi-charge on us. You prevent liberation day celebrations from being held by sending us to jails! You file cases on us! You criticise us," Telangana BJP president G Kishan Reddy told reporters on Thursday.

In a departure from the tradition, the Telangana government had celebrated Independence Day this year inside the Golconda Fort. Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao had also favoured celebrating the day in a grand fashion earlier, the BJP leader alleged. BJP would continue to fight till the celebrations are organised officially, he said.

Referring to the row over Hyderabad metro rail following reports that the concessionaire sought to exit the project due to different issues in contractual agreement, BJP floor leader in Legislative Assembly K Laxman said the state government should bring out a white paper on the subject.