As India's youngest state Telangana celebrates its 10th Formation year, the state's Governor Tamilisai Soundararajan was reportedly not invited to the celebrations organised by the state government. However, Soundararajan said she doesn't want to comment on whether or not she was invited.
Adding that the people of Telangana were with her, the Governor said "today's celebration will reveal" the truth about the invitation.
However, Raj Bhavan sources told ANI that the invite didn't come through. "On the eve of Telangana Formation Day, Governor Tamilisai Soundararajan did not receive any invitation from the government for the formation day celebrations," sources added.
This isn't the first time that the Telangana Governor is being snubbed during major state functions. Soundararajan had earlier hit out at Chief Minister K. Chandrashekar Rao for not inviting her to both Republic Day celebrations and the new Secretariat inauguration.
Soundararajan has strained relations with Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao and had recently accused the government of following any protocol in Telangana. "The chief minister has not met me for quite a long time. The constitution says that periodic discussions with the administrators — the chief minister with the governor — are necessary but this doesn’t happen in Telangana at all. For two years I have not met the chief minister. Everyone is putting questions on the governors but no one is questioning the chief ministers," she said.
However, the Governor held a formation day celebration at Raj Bhavan by hoisting the tricolour. She also honoured the participants of the 1969 Telangana Agitation who attended the Statehood Day celebrations.
Meanwhile, the formation day celebrations were held in grandeur in Telangana on Friday. Telangana was carved out of Andhra Pradesh following a decades-long agitation and accorded statehood on this day in 2014.
Both Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Draupadi Murmu greeted the people of Telangana on its statehood day.
While Murmu praised the state for "emerging as a hub of innovation and entrepreneurship", Modi said the "skills of its people and the richness of its culture are greatly admired."
Chief minister K Chandrasekhara Rao celebrated the day at the Secretariat. "My best wishes to all the people on the auspicious occasion of the 10th Telangana State Formation Day. Let us celebrate the history of 60 years of struggle and 10 years of progress of Telangana which we dreamed of and fought for," Rao said.
"It is a historic achievement that Telangana has overcome ambiguities and hurdles to become the most formidable economic power in the country," Rao said.
The Telangana government has decided to celebrate the 10th Formation Day on a grand scale for 21 days beginning Friday.