Hyderabad: Telangana Governor Tamilisai Soundararajan unfurled the national flag from the Raj Bhavan today and read out her own speech after the government of K Chandrasekhar Rao reportedly did not respond to a communication from Raj Bhavan asking for the government-approved speech.
The Chief Minister did not attend the event. The chief secretary and state police chief attended on behalf of the government.
The government had said it had restricted the Governor's celebrations to Raj Bhavan because of Covid restrictions, something the courts did not agree with.
The Telangana High Court had ordered yesterday that a Republic Day ceremony, befitting the occasion, be held with public participation, at a venue chosen by the state government.
The BRS government stuck to its plan to have the celebration at Raj Bhavan, with the ceremonial parade and guard of honour held on the premises.
The Telangana High Court has also 'strongly condemned' the state government for its failure to celebrate the day in the state, the Governor said in Puducherry, where she is currently the Lieutenant Governor.
"I have, however, felicitated some persons at Raj Bhavan and gave respect to the national flag before coming to Puducherry," she was quoted as saying by news agency Press Trust of India.
"It is amusing that the government has cited Coronavirus as the reason for not holding the function in the parade ground. But a function was held recently with more than five lakh people being present," she said, pointing at the maiden meeting of the BRS at Khammam.
She said she was "fed up with such breaches" and "as the going goes, even if someone spits at me, I will simply wipe off".
In her speech, the Governor, however, made certain comments that has set off controversy. "The marginalised population should get farms and houses. Some people having far houses, that is not development, " she said, in what some people interpreted as a jibe at the Chief Minister, who is known to have a farmhouse where he spends considerable time.
Ruling Bharat Rashtra Samithi MLC Kaushik Reddy has hit back with derogatory comments about the Governor, questioning pending bills. The BRS has distanced itself from his remark, refusing to comment on the matter.