‘Liberation’ vs ‘Governance’: In Telangana, why BJP is doubling down on nationalism plank

Facing a formidable challenge from A Revanth Reddy-led Congress government’s outreach to the backward classes and marginalised communities including Other Backward Classes (OBCs) and Scheduled Castes (SCs), the BJP is trying to build up its organisation to ensure that it could emerge as a “strong alternative” in the state.

In the November 2023 Assembly polls clinched by the Congress, which secured 64 of the state’s 119 seats, the BJP had managed to win just 8 seats, but in 2024 Lok Sabha polls the party bagged 8 of 17 seats — the same as the Congress.

September 17 marks the anniversary of the accession of Nizam-ruled Hyderabad state to India in 1948 — 13 months after Independence. It has been commemorated by the BJP for several years, but the party dispensation has ramped up its scale since 2022.

“Raksha Mantri being chosen for this year’s Hyderabad Liberation Day event underlines that both the RSS and the BJP have the South firmly in sight. Both the Tamil Nadu and Kerala Assembly elections are due in 2026. With our major ally Telugu Desam Party in power in neighbouring Andhra Pradesh, Telangana is going to receive a lot of attention from our national leadership in the coming days. This is just the beginning,” a BJP leader said.

“We have been clear about expanding the BJP’s support base in the region under ‘Mission South’. For weeks, the party has been mobilising workers for the September 17 event not only from several districts in Telangana but also from Maharashtra and Karnataka, which had seen

killings and suppression in the run-up to Hyderabad state’s accession to India. It will be a significant show of strength proving that at core every Indian is a nationalist,” the BJP leader said.

The erstwhile Hyderabad princely state comprised present-day Telangana and some belts of Maharashtra and Karnataka.

The Hyderabad Liberation Day event being organised by the BJP-led Centre would focus on various aspects of the nationalist struggle leading to Hyderabad state’s merger with India, party sources said. Rajnath will also unveil a statue of former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee on the occasion.

“We have been fighting for the official commemoration of Hyderabad’s liberation for the last 25 years — this is a culmination of that. Such a significant occasion – with history, sacrifice, culture and the nationalist fight against the Nizam at its core – has been communalised due to vote bank and communal politics of the Congress and BRS,” Ramachander Rao told The Indian Express.

“This is why these parties (Congress and BRS) restrict themselves to unfurling the tricolour at their offices and are afraid of acknowledging what is right. It is the right of every generation to know the truth of the struggle for which people sacrificed their lives for the cause of the nation. That is why we want it to be part of the state’s academic syllabus too,” the Telangana BJP chief added.

After storming to power in Telangana in 2023, the Congress government commemorated September 17 last year as “Praja Palana Day” or People’s Governance Day. It is again doing the same this time with CM Revanth Reddy going to address the event. The previous K Chandrashekar Rao-led BRS used to observe it as “National Integration Day”.

Targeting the BJP, the Congress has alleged that it was aiming to “spread its communal politics” in Telangana. “All they (BJP) are looking for is to spread their communal politics in the state ahead of the upcoming local body elections. The Congress and its Praja Palana government, which are currently working to provide relief to flood-affected people, will organise an event on September 17, which will focus on the people and their welfare, not mere symbolism,” a party leader said.

Highlighting that the Congress government will mark September 17 as Praja Palana Day, Telangana Congress vice-president Kota Neelima said the day needed to be viewed as a celebration of convergence and pluralism.

“This proves that the Telangana government which says that we are there for the people, of the people and by the people truly does so in letter and spirit. Forward-thinking and looking towards the future are part of the fabric of Hyderabad and its inclusive society which will be at the centre of the occasion,” Neelima said.

“Everyone is welcome to celebrate what they wish to and in the manner in which they wish to; this is what Hyderabad is – neither drawn by extreme communal forces nor the opposite. We have always moved forward by inclusion and benefited immensely from this balance,” she added.