Raj Bhavan readies for Republic Day celebrations; Will KCR attend?

Telangana: Telangana Governor Tamilisai Soundararajan on Tuesday directed officials to make arrangements to celebrate Republic Day in Raj Bhavan. But the big question is will Chief Minister K. Chandrashekar Rao attend the ceremony that he missed last year?

The Governor will unfurl the national flag at Raj Bhavan at 7 a.m. Governor Tamilisai will later take part in the R-Day celebrations and then leave for Puducherry to participate in the Republic Day celebrations as the Lieutenant Governor. The Governor has sent invitations to Chief Minister KCR and other dignitaries inviting them for High Tea. However, political analysts say KCR will not attend the celebrations at Raj Bhavan.

Earlier, the Republic Day celebrations were held at the Parade Grounds in Secunderabad. But due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the celebrations were shifted to the public garden in Nampally. However, as the state government did not organise the celebrations last year, the Republic Day was held at Raj Bhavan. So far, there has yet to be any official information on whether the ceremony will be held in Parade Grounds or the public gardens on behalf of the state government.

In 2022, the Republic Day celebrations were limited to Raj Bhavan due to the pandemic. Governor Tamilisai alleged that the Chief Minister and MLAs did not attend the ceremony, and neither did they read the copy of the speech sent to the government.

Protocol issue

The Governor has often spoken about the protocol issue in the last few weeks. She said the government insulted her by not following protocol. So, will the state government and the Chief Minister follow protocol on Republic Day or make the issue bigger? That remains to be seen. It is being reported that a copy of the speech on behalf of the government is yet to reach the Governor’s office.

It is also surprising that the Telangana Assembly Budget session that will start on 3 February will start without the Governor’s speech. It is a tradition for the Governor to address both houses at the beginning of the budget sessions.

KCR VS TS Governor: What is the feud?

The clash between the CM and the Governor began after the Governor rejected the file sent by the CMO proposing Padi Kaushik Reddy as MLC. Meanwhile, the government said the Governor has kept seven important bills pending at her office without passing them.

Recently, at the Bharat Rashtra Samithi’s (BRS) first public meeting in Khammam, the Chief Ministers of various states and national-level leaders expressed anger over the system of governors in their respective states.