Kishan Reddy questions why Sonia Gandhi is invited for Telangana govt function

Hyderabad: Union Minister and Telangana BJP president G Kishan Reddy on Wednesday took strong exception to the Congress government's decision to invite its top leader Sonia Gandhi for the proposed state formation day celebrations on June 2.

Speaking to PTI Videos, he said that during the Telangana movement in 1969, when the Congress was in power, as many as 369 students died in police firing.

During the second phase of the Telangana statehood agitation, about 1,500 youths sacrificed their lives and all the people of Telangana took to streets for a separate state, he added.

Now after 10 years, the Congress is in power in Telangana and they are saying they will invite Sonia Gandhi and felicitate her, saying she is the one who granted the people of Telangana a separate state, Kishan Reddy said.

"Sonia Gandhi did not give Telangana...it (statehood for Telangana) was achieved by the people of Telangana. It is the people of Telangana who sacrificed and took part in agitations (for separate Telangana)," Kishan Reddy said.

Kishan Reddy sought to know from the Congress government how it could invite a political leader for a government function.

"...she is a leader of the Congress party. How can you invite her to a government function? If you want to invite her, then invite and felicitate her at the Congress party's office. We don't have any objection to that," he said.

He demanded that the Congress government clarify to the people about its invitation to Sonia Gandhi for the official function.

On May 20 after a Cabinet meeting, the Telangana government said it has decided to invite Sonia Gandhi for the state formation day celebrations on June 2.

Reacting to a query on Karnataka Home Minister G Parameshwara's statement that the Centre was yet to respond on request to cancel the diplomatic passport of Hassan MP Prajwal Revanna, Kishan Reddy asserted that "it was totally false".

"The Congress is in power in Karnataka and be it (Prajwal) Revanna or whoever it is, they have to take action. But the Congress government is not taking action, and Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar is trying to intentionally avoid the case," he claimed.

He demanded a CBI probe into the case against Prajwal Revanna, alleging that the Congress government in Karnataka state was not doing investigating it properly.

"Let the case be handed over to the CBI and the Centre will take necessary action," he said.

Parameshwara on Wednesday said that the Centre has not responded to the request for cancellation of Prajwal Revanna's diplomatic passport on the basis of an arrest warrant issued against him by a court.

The Karnataka minister had said it is the duty of the Centre to provide help within the framework of law, by cancelling the diplomatic passport.

The Special Investigation Team (SIT) set up by the state government to probe the serial sexual abuse charges against the MP, had written to the Ministry of External Affairs to cancel his diplomatic passport.

The 33-year-old Prajwal, who is the grandson of JD(S) patriarch and former PM H D Deve Gowda and is the NDA's candidate from Hassan Lok Sabha segment, is facing charges of multiple instances of sexually abusing women.

Prajwal reportedly left for Germany on April 27, a day after Hassan went to polls, and is still at large. A Blue Corner Notice seeking information on his whereabouts has already been issued by the Interpol, following a request by the SIT via the Central Bureau of Investigation.