Two different backdrops and different styles marked the celebrations of 69th Independence Day of India in the two Telugu States of Telangana and Andhra Pradesh.
While the grand historic sentinel of Golkonda Fort was the venue of the celebrations in Hyderabad for the second consecutive year, the celebrations in Andhra Pradesh were unique this time as the picturesque Bay of Bengal provided the backdrop to a colourful parade and flag hoisting in Visakhapatanam.
It was for the first time in India that any State Government chose the coast to organise the Independence Day celebrations.
While Telangana Chief Minister hoisted the national flag at the more than 7 Centuries old Golkonda Fort and delivered his speech, his AP counterpart Naidu hoisted the flag at the Ramakrishna Beach of the port city of Visakhapatanam.
Adding colour to the proceedings was the Indian Navy by display ship anchorage and fly past by the helicopters. Visakhapatanam is home to the Eastern Command of the Indian Navy. Sixteen contingents of State police, Home Guards, National Cadet Corps and other uniformed organisations took part in the parade. The State showcased its culture and traditions as well as development and welfare programs through 21 tableaux.
In Hyderabad Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao first paid tributes at the memorial to the martyred soldiers at Secunderabad Parade Ground before coming to Golkonda Fort for hoisting the national flag. later, he inspected guard of honour and took salute. A colourful and impressive parade was organised on the occasion highlighting the culture, customs and traditions of Telangana. Tribal dance troupes in bright colourful attire gave a scintillating performance on the ramparts of the fort. Similarly tribal groups also displayed their traditional martial skills including sword fight.
Unlike Telangana which celebrated both the Independence Day so far at the Golkonda Fort, described by the Chief Minister as the symbol of glory of Telangana region through centuries, AP had celebrated the first Independence Day last year at Kurnool, another historic city but this year moved to Visakhapatanam beach. Next year, the Government hopes to find a permanent venue at the under construction new capital Amaravti.
Speaking on the occasion KCR expressed satisfaction over the progress made by Telangana since its formation 15 months ago and said the State had secured number 1 position in the country in the welfare sector. “Our Government was spending Rs 28,000 crore on welfare schemes,” he said.
He counted Mission Kakatiya for desilting irrigation tanks and water grid for providing drinking water to each and every house in the State among the flagship programs of the State. He also announced a new program Grama Jyothi with `25,000 crore for village level planning and development.
In the backdrop of worsening drinking water challenge for the State capital Hyderabad with a population of 14 million, KCR announced a new plan of constructing two new reservoirs for the city. He also promised a comprehensive plan to improve irrigations facilities in the State.
Coming to his pet theme of the sufferings of Telangana under the united Andhra Pradesh, KCR said the region had suffered badly due to the improper planning and designing of irrigation projects as most of them were aimed at benefiting coastal Andhra.
He announced that the farming sector would start getting power without any interruption from March next. He also pointed out his Government had fulfilled its promise of waiving the loans of farmers and loans of Rs 8,500 crore were already waived.
AP Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu in his I-Day address sought the cooperation of the people to make the State number one in the country. In the backdrop of ongoing controversy over Centre’s refusal to grant special category status to AP, Naidu said the Centre should extend full help and assistance to the State till it achieves an equality with other States.
He hoped Prime Minister Narendar Modi will extend his help to the State.
He promised to make agriculture remunerative for the farmers and develop the coastal area into a logistics hub.