In the backdrop of uncertainty prevailing over participation of ministers from Telangana region in the AP Formation Day celebrations on Nov 1, the Andhra Pradesh Cabinet tonight decided to let the respective District Collectors to hoist the national tricolour on the occasion, official sources said.
Chief Minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy will, however, take part in the official celebrations in the state capital and unfurl the national flag.
There has been a strong demand from Telangana protagonists, including MPs and MLAs of ruling Congress party, that ministers from the region stay away from the Formation Day celebrations and instead observe November 1 as “betrayal day”.
The ministers from Telangana, however, publicly remained non-committal on the issue so far. However, some of them have expressed their inability, with the chief minister, to take part in the celebrations in view of the hostile atmosphere prevailing in the region over the issue. Reddy reportedly discussed the issue informally with some of his colleagues from Andhra-Rayalaseema regions and sought a way out to avoid any embarrassment if the ministers from Telangana region stick to their stand on the celebrations. Finally, it was decided at the Cabinet meeting to let the district collectors do the honour in all the 23 districts of the state and the chief minister made an announcement to this effect at the meeting, official sources said.
It is after a gap of 27 years that the district collectors are being entrusted with the task of hoisting the tricolour on the state formation day, they said. Way back in 1984, the then chief minister N T Rama Rao had introduced the practise of ministers unfurling the national flag on AP Formation Day. Owing to hostile scenario in the wake of the ongoing agitation for a separate state, the customary practise is being done away with. [PTI]