BRS supremo K Chandrashekhar Rao has declined the invitation sent by chief minister A Revanth Reddy to participate in the decennial celebrations of the Telangana Formation Day on Sunday, citing the policies and politics of Congress government which he described as against the interest of the people of the state in a 22 page long letter.

Former Congress President Sonia Gandhi will also not travel to Telangana to participate in the function due to health reasons.

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The chief minister had sent a personal letter to Rao, more popularly known as KCR inviting him to join the celebrations tomorrow at the Parade Ground at Secunderabad.

Accusing the chief minister of never uttering the slogan of “Jai Telangana” in his long letter KCR blamed the Congress for destroying five generations of Telangana by merging the State of Hyderabad into Andhra Pradesh against the wishes of the people.

He accused the national party of never expressing remorse over the atrocities faced by the people.

“The Congress is insulting the movement and the sacrifice of the martyrs by its arrogant attitude that statehood was bestowed upon the people from above,” said KCR pointing at the claims by Congress that it was a blessing from Sonia Gandhi, the then party president. He said BRS will not participate in the official function though the party organised a candle march today evening to mark the occasion.

The BRS also pointed out that the Gun Park which contains the Martyrs Memorial has been fenced with iron grills ahead of the Telangana Formation Day. In a sarcastic note BRS working president KT Ram Rao wrote on ‘X’, “In order to remember the Emergency days of Indiramma’s regime the Martyr’s Memorial has been fenced with iron grill.”

While the BRS regime had tried to usurp the credit for formation of Telangana attributing it to KCR, the Congress has been trying to erase the legacy by changing the emblem and the statue of Telangana Talli (mother).

“This is nothing but cheap politics by the parties.. There are far more issues of concern such as corruption, electricity, education and agriculture that should be looked into instead of such non issues,” said M Padmanabha Reddy, president of civil society organisation, Forum of Good Governance. Reddy who had participated in the protests in 1956 when the state was merged said the government should instead concentrate on taking care of the martyrs’ families.

The chief minister Revanth Reddy will commence the celebrations tomorrow by paying homage to Telangana martyrs at Gun Park in the morning before proceeding to the Parade Ground to unfurl the national flag. After receiving the guard of honour from police he will address the gathering and release the official state anthem. In the evening, a carnival will be held at Tank Bund showcasing the state’s art and culture with stalls and performances by artists before culminating with a fireworks display.