Don’t boycott Andhra formation day functions: ministers

HYDERABAD - Two ministers in Andhra Pradesh Wednesday said the state formation day Nov 1 will be celebrated at any cost and warned those planning to disrupt the celebrations.

The ministers hailing from Telangana region said the call given by some groups to observe the day as “betrayal day” was not proper.

IT Minister Komatireddy Venkat Reddy found fault with the Telangana groups who have called for a boycott of the celebrations.

Venkat Reddy said all ministers would participate in the celebrations. He appealed to all the groups to have patience till Justice B.N. Srikrishna committee, which is looking into the demand for a separate Telangana state, submits its report.

The committee is scheduled to submit its report to the central government by Dec 31.

Health Minister D. Nagender, who is not in favour of a separate Telangana state, said the state formation day would be celebrated at any cost.

“It is not proper to observe Nov 1 as betrayal day,” he said.

The Telangana Rashtra Samiti, the Telangana Praja Front of Maoist sympathizer Gaddar, student groups and a section of Telangana leaders of the ruling Congress and the Telugu Desam Party have said that Nov 1 should be observed as “betrayal day” or “black day”.

Meanwhile, all-party Telangana Joint Action Committee convenor M. Kodandaram released posters about the “betrayal day”. He demanded that the government cancel official celebrations of the formation day.

“At a time when formation of separate Telangana is close, celebrating formation day will provoke the people of Telangana,” he said.

Kodandaram wondered why the government was keen on celebrating the formation day Nov 1 while it overlooked Sep 17, the day when the erstwhile Hyderabad State merged with Indian Union in 1948.

Telangana, part of Hyderabad State, was merged with Andhra State Nov 1, 1956 to form Andhra Pradesh.

People in Telangana region, which comprises 10 districts including Hyderabad, are demanding separate statehood.