KCRs fast was a defining moment: KTR

The Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) observed the 16th anniversary of ‘Diksha Diwas’, the day on which party founder and former Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao went on an indefinite fast demanding statehood to Telangana in 2009, by holding commemorative meetings across the State.

Marking the historic occasion, working president of the party K.T. Rama Rao and a host of party leaders paid tributes to Telangana Thalli statue and a bust of Telangana ideologue Prof. K. Jayashankar at the party office here.

Speaking on the occasion, he reminded that the struggle for Telangana was not just history but it was a struggle for identity that must be safeguarded every single day.

Reacting to the Pradesh Congress Committee chief B. Mahesh Kumar Goud’s remarks about the Telangana movement and the protest taken up by Mr. Chandrasekhar Rao, he said no one knew where the PCC president was during the Telangana movement. But, he is talking recklessly about KCR’s fast-unto-death, he said.

He reminded the Congress leaders that they were conveniently forgetting that it was the Congress government, both in Delhi and at the State level, that pleaded with Mr. Chandrasekhar Rao to withdraw his fast as his life had become crucial for the political decision on Telangana. He stated that the hands of Congress leaders are stained with the blood of Telangana’s children, and the Congress is the permanent villain in the Telangana’s story, its history including its forcible merger and plundering of resources.

Recalling the importance of Diksha Diwas, he said it was not just a date in history but a day to reaffirm collective resolve. It is a moment to remember the sacrifices of martyrs, the determination of lakhs of people and the injustices committed repeatedly by the Congress regime over six decades – from 1950 to 2025.

He said BRS had thanked Sonia Gandhi out of courtesy after statehood was given to Telangana, but never did the BRS call her a “Bali Devatha of Telangana” unlike Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy, who made the comments when he was with the Telugu Desam Party (TDP).

He reiterated that Congress had always deceived Telangana from suppressing leaders to poaching elected representatives to diluting the State’s identity. He termed the KCR’s fast for statehood to Telangana was a defining moment of Indian democratic movements.