The Congress government and Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy are downplaying the significance of Telangana Liberation Day under the guise of “Praja Palana” and indulging in minority appeasement politics, alleged BJP Rajya Sabha member K. Laxman on Friday.

Addressing a press conference at the BJP State office, Mr. Laxman expressed concern that many among the younger generations, including Gen-Z and Gen-Alpha, were aware only of India’s Independence Day on August 15 and not of the events that led to the merger of the erstwhile Hyderabad State with the Indian Union on Sept. 17, 1948.

Recounting the developments that culminated in Hyderabad State’s integration with India, he demanded that the history of the Telangana liberation struggle and the writings of poet Dasarathi Krishnamacharya be made mandatory part of the school curriculum.

The BJP leader questioned why September 17 is officially observed as Liberation Day in regions of present-day Maharashtra and Karnataka that were once part of the Hyderabad State, while Telangana has not adopted a similar official observance. He attributed the difference to the influence of the AIMIM and accused both the Congress and the BRS of not taking a decision on the issue due to vote bank politics.

Mr. Laxman said the BJP had been campaigning for official recognition of Telangana Liberation Day for more than three decades. The party’s activists had faced arrests and police action during earlier agitations, while senior leaders, including Ch. Vidyasagar Rao and L.K. Advani, had mobilised public support through various programmes, he said.

He noted that the Centre has been officially commemorating the occasion at the Parade Grounds since 2022 and that this year’s celebrations would also be organised on a large scale. He said the BJP would include this chapter of Telangana’s history in the curriculum and officially celebrate the event if voted to power in the State.

Earlier, BJP Telangana president N. Ramchander Rao announced a month-long “Seva Sankalp Abhiyan” from September 17 to October 17 to mark Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s 25 years in public office, spanning his tenure as Chief Minister and Prime Minister. The campaign will include blood donation camps, Swachh Bharat activities, essay competitions and outreach programmes involving beneficiaries of Central government schemes.