Observing that the Congress is on the decline in the entire country, top BJP leader and Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Friday said Congress cannot be an alternative to the ruling (TRS) Telangana Rashtra Samithi in Telangana and that the BJP alone can. Noting that people of Telangana are with the BJP as was seen in its success in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls and subsequently in the Dubbak assembly bypoll and the GHMC (Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation) elections (last year), he indicated that the TRS had to take AIMIM’s (All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen) help (post-civic polls).
“Congress is finishing in the entire country. In Telangana, the Congress cannot be an alternative to the TRS. You tell me, even if the Congress becomes an alternative due to fear of Majlis (AIMIM), it will do the same what he is (TRS) doing. Can they fight against Owaisi (AIMIM leader)?… BJP alone can enhance the respect of Telangana and nobody else," he said. Sardar Patel got freedom for Telangana on September 17, 1948, but the real freedom would come when a government without AIMIM’s support is formed, he said.
He hit out at the alleged family rule of TRS. BJP alone can offer a government that is free of family rule, he said. Attacking the TRS and AIMIM, he said, “The steering of the car (TRS poll symbol) is in Owaisi’s hands". Can it do good for Telangana, he asked.
He further said reservations should never be on the basis of religion and that his party is opposed to quotas provided on the basis of religion. Shah was addressing a public meeting organised by Telangana BJP at the district headquarters town of Nirmal on the occasion of ‘Telangana Liberation Day’ on September 17.
He expressed confidence that a BJP government would be formed in Telangana in 2024. “When the BJP government is formed in Telangana, we will celebrate Hyderabad Liberation Day by organising an official programme on September 17," he said.
Observing that some may have fear in celebrating the day, he said,"The BJP does not fear the “Majlis people (AIMIM)." BJP does not indulge in appeasement politics, he said. “I have also come to remind one thing to Chief Minister ji (K Chandrasekhar Rao). I was in Gujarat then. I used to listen to your speeches. When the Telangana agitation was going on, you had then said we will celebrate Telangana Liberation Day on September 17," Shah said.
He said he would like to ask the Chief Minister as to what happened to his promise. Karnataka and Maharashtra celebrate the day officially, he said. He said BJP would celebrate the day officially if it forms the government in the State.
Observing that about 1,000 people who fought for freedom were hanged in Nirmal, Shah said BJP would not let their sacrifices go in vain. “Chief Minister ji, don’t you even remember their sacrifices," he said.
Who is he afraid of in not celebrating the day, he asked. The erstwhile princely state of Hyderabad (under Nizam rule) was merged with the Indian Union on September 17, 1948.
BJP in Telangana has been fighting for officially celebrating the ‘Telangana Liberation Day’ on September 17. Shah visited a blood donation organised on the occasion of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s 71st birthday.
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