: Minister of State for Home G Kishan Reddy on Sunday demanded that the Telangana government officially celebrate September 17 as Hyderabad "Liberation Day", a long standing demand of the state BJP.
The day marks the merger of the erstwhile Hyderabad state with the Indian Union in 1948.
The state BJP has been celebrating Hyderabad Liberation Day on September 17 every year and unfurling the national flag across the state.
"For the past several years,the Maharashtra and Karnataka governments have been officially celebrating Liberation Day in some of the districts of both states" (parts of which were also under the rule of the Nizams), Reddy told reporters here.
"In Telangana, the BJP has been demanding that the Liberation Day be officially celebrated on September 17.
...but the previous governments (in united Andhra Pradesh) and now the TRS government, out of fear of AIMIM, did have not officially celebrating Hyderabad Liberation Day," he alleged.
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Reddy said Liberation Day would be celebrated in every village of the state" once the BJP government comes to power in Telangana."
He said BJP chief and Home Minister Amit Shah is expected to attend a public meeting that day over this issue.
The erstwhile Hyderabad state of Nizam merged with the Indian Union on September 17, 1948 and BJP has for long been demanding that the day be officially celebrated as Liberation Day.
The BJP has often alleged that the Chandrasekhar Rao government was not accepting the demand due to "vote bank politics" and under the influence of AIMIM, a friendly party of TRS.
To a query on the situation in Jammu and Kashmir after abrogation of Article 370, which granted special status to the state, Reddy said the situation was 'normal'.
"The restrictions are being gradually removed. Schools, shops and offices have re-opened. Cell phones and landlines have been restored.
Based on inputs, some restrictions are continuing in a few places and we also want them to be lifted," Reddy added.
To another query on reports that India was headed for an economic slowdown, Reddy said that if one were to compare the economy with that of nations like the U.S., China and Russia, it was 'very good."
"...when you compare (the economy) with that of other countries like the U.S.A, China and Russia, the situation is very good in India.
Several measures have been undertaken by the Narendra Modi-led government," he said.
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