Hyderabad: Ruling Congress, main Opposition Telugu Desam, BJP and other parties on Friday celebrated the merger of the erstwhile Nizam state with the Indian Union.
Chief Minister K Rosaiah, state Congress president D Srinivas, Congress MPs and other party leaders offered homage to the country`s first Home Minister Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel and other national leaders at Gandhi Bhavan, the state Congress headquarters on the occasion.
It was Sardar Patel`s `police action` that made the Nizam agree to merge the state (Hyderabad) with Indian Union on September 17, 1948.
Telugu Desam Chief N Chandrababu Naidu unfurled the national flag at the party headquarters, while state BJP president G Kishan Reddy led the party`s celebrations.
The parties had a different take on celebrating the day. BJP celebrated the day as `Telangana Liberation Day`, which signified that it was the day Telangana was liberated from Nizam rule.
Other parties, however, celebrated it as the day of merger with India as they said they did not want to hurt the sentiments of minorities.
All the parties have earlier demanded that the state government celebrate the day officially, but the demand was not accepted.
Mild tension prevailed at the state Assembly premises as ABVP and BJP workers tried to barge inside, but were prevented by police, who took them into custody and removed from the
place.
PTI
