After two years of acrimony during the BRS regime, Telangana will once again witness the Republic Day celebrations along with the ceremonial parade with both — Governor Dr Tamilisai Soundararajan and the new chief minister A Revanth Reddy — present on the occasion.
Apart from taking the guard of honour at the parade the Governor will also host ‘At Home’ at the Raj Bhavan in the evening which will be attended by Chief minister Reddy with his Cabinet members, public representatives and senior officials of both state and central governments.
In 2023, the Republic Day celebrations were held at Raj Bhavan following High Court order after the state government headed by K Chandrasekhar Rao refused to hold the ceremonial parade at the Parade Ground at Secunderabad. Last year on Republic Day, the Governor unfurled the tricolour in the presence of bureaucrats and police officials as the Chief Minister and his Council of ministers chose to stay away and a separate programme was held at Pragathi Bhavan, his residence cum camp office.
In 2022 too, the BRS government did not hold the parade citing Covid 19 protocol though it was held by other states and the Centre. An enraged Governor unfurled the flag at Raj Bhavan in the presence of the chief secretary and the DGP.
KCR as Rao is popularly known, had also skipped attending the customary At Home hosted by the Governor for the past two years leaving Dr Soundararajan publicly fuming for not even informing her office beforehand.
However, the new Congress government has ensured a better rapport with the Governor so far with the Chief Minister meeting Dr Soundarajan at regular intervals. This year, the state government will hold the Republic Day ceremony in a grand and befitting manner. A full rehearsal of the parade was held on Wednesday. Tomorrow, the Governor will unfurl the national flag at 7:30 am at Public Gardens followed by her address. In the evening, the Governor’s At Home should also see a good turnout.
After a gap of three years, the Telangana tableau will also find a place at the Republic Day parade in New Delhi. The state tableau was last part of the Parade in 2020.