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The day of the merger of Telangana into the Indian Union — September 17 — has emerged as a crucial event in the state over the last couple of years. With Assembly polls scheduled for later this year, it is being utilised for campaigning too. All three key contenders in the state — the Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS), Congress and BJP — have lined up high-profile events this year on the day, to be addressed by top leaders.
On September 17, 1948, the erstwhile Hyderabad state — comprising Telangana and parts of Maharashtra and Karnataka — joined the Indian Union after the Indian Army swept into Hyderabad under a three-day military action called Operation Polo. The Hyderabad state was on the boil leading up to this, with the peasants and the Communists carrying out an armed rebellion against the oppressive tax regime of Nizam Mir Usman Ali.
Around the same time, a private Muslim militia called the Razakars came up to suppress the peasant and Communist movement.
Since the BJP started trying around 2020 to make inroads into the state, September 17 has become a battle of narratives.
The BRS government led by K Chandrashekar Rao or KCR — which had not officially celebrated the day since it came to power in 2014 — announced in 2022 that it would observe September 17 as Telangana National Unity Day and conduct three-day programmes in that regard. The BJP-led Centre said it would mark the day as Telangana State Liberation Day instead, framing it as the day Telangana got free from the clutches of the Nizam.
Last year, Union Home Minister Amit Shah addressed a massive gathering to mark the day, where he lashed out at the BRS for ignoring its significance, attributing it to the fact that it was an ally of the AIMIM.
The BRS, in turn, hit out at the BJP for politicising the issue.
This time too, the BJP is planning a massive show on Parade Grounds in Secunderabad, with Shah attending. During the visit, Shah will also pay homage to the soldiers who fought against the Nizam’s Army and the Razakars and unfurl the national flag.
While the Congress was largely out of the picture last year in terms of marking September 17, this time it has also seized on the day’s relevance and historical significance, and announced a CWC meeting in Telangana that day. A Telangana PCC leader said September 17 was “an important and right day to announce poll plans and promises”.
Alongside the CWC meeting, the Congress will also hold a massive public meeting at Tukkuguda in Hyderabad district. Senior Congress leader Sonia Gandhi is likely to attend along with Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, and unveil the party’s “five guarantees” for the polls at the end of the year. Congress leaders said they would announce the party’s separate declarations or promises for youth, SC-STs and minorities at the public meeting.
The ruling BRS has said it will commemorate the day “quietly”, highlighting the KCR government’s policies and schemes.
BRS working president and Minister K T Rama Rao said party leaders would celebrate the day in their respective districts, while ministers will hoist the national flag at special programmes to be organised in all of the state’s 33 districts. KCR will also hoist the national flag at a programme in Hyderabad, but the venue has not been decided yet.
“We do not want to politicise the issue unlike other parties, and will hold functions to showcase the development work that the BRS has done, which has become a national model,’’ MLC K Kavitha, who is the daughter of KCR, said. Kavitha is also likely to conduct a rally to gather support for the women’s reservation Bill that she has been pushing for.
