Hyderabad: BRS working president K. T. Rama Rao (KTR) hoisted the national flag at Telangana Bhavan on the occasion of India’s 79th Independence Day. Former ministers, MPs, MLAs, MLCs, and senior party leaders attended the celebration.

On behalf of BRS president and former chief minister K. Chandrashekhar Rao, KTR extended greetings to Indians worldwide. He paid tribute to thousands of freedom fighters whose sacrifices secured the nation’s liberty. He noted that India had grown from 14 states at Independence to 28 states today. Telangana, the youngest, had become a model under BRS governance, he said.

Telangana’s progress and political setback

KTR said Telangana statehood was achieved under KCR’s leadership, inspired by Mahatma Gandhi, Jawaharlal Nehru, and B. R. Ambedkar. He credited KCR’s vision for turning the state into a leader in welfare, agriculture, per capita income, and rural development. Telangana, once ranked 14th in grain production, had overtaken Punjab and Haryana to take the top spot. He called this achievement the result of KCR’s determination to make farmers “kings.”

However, KTR criticised the Congress government’s 20-month tenure. He alleged that farmer-focused policies were abandoned and that the state had returned to “old Congress days” under Chief Minister Revanth Reddy. Scenes of farmers queuing for urea, he said, marked a shameful reversal of progress.

He accused the Congress and BJP of controlling Telangana’s politics from Delhi. According to him, Revanth Reddy’s 51 trips to Delhi had turned the state into a “rent-controlled administration.” Agriculture, welfare schemes, IT, and industries were suffering because of misplaced priorities, he said.

KTR cited Prof. Jayashankar’s warning that protecting Telangana’s political identity was vital for safeguarding its future. He urged people to protect the freedom the state had won and to secure economic self-reliance for people with low incomes. While caste and religion could divide society, he said, Indian identity was the single unifying force for all citizens.