Telangana Governor Tamilisai Soundararajan launched a blistering attack on the previous BRS regime on Friday, calling it a "dictatorial government" that violated the constitutional spirit, remarks that the opposition party labelled as "nonsense" and reflecting her "brazen affection" for the Congress party.
In her Republic Day speech, Soundararajan stated that Telangana is in the process of rebuilding constitutional bodies, systems, and values that were 'ruined' over the last decade, and that the current people's government is reviving constitutional merits, systems, and practices.
The Congress ended the decade-long rule of the Bharat Rashtra Samiti (BRS) months ago, when the grand old party won elections and formed its first government in the southern state under Chief Minister A Revanth.
"In the recent elections, Telangana society ended the 10-year dictatorial government that violated the constitutional spirit. Telangana state now has a people's government. The people's mandate declared that arrogance and autocracy have no place in Telangana state," Soundararajan, known for her frequent clashes with the then-K Chandrasekhar Rao-led BRS regime, said.
BRS MLC K Kavitha responded, saying, "In the Republic Day address, the Honorable Governor had called the earlier KCR government an autocratic government. It was a very high majority elected government by the people of Telangana. It can never be autocratic. It is a democracy that we are living in. But the governor's speech today exposes the nexus between both Congress and BJP and it is left to Madam Governor, she should understand the message that she's sending to the people of Telangana," she told ANI.
In counter, BRS Working President KT Rama Rao expressed strong disapproval of the Governor's comments, deeming them "truly appalling" and suggesting her apparent alignment with the Congress. Rao urged Soundararajan to enroll in the Congress party if she wishes to display her "brazen affection" towards it.
"It (the Governor's comments) is truly appalling and reprehensible, the kind of speech, words, and nonsense that was coming out of the Raj Bhavan this morning, because Telangana has had a democratically elected government for the last ten years." Rama Rao told PTI that "every word used by the Governor in her speech today is truly admonishing, insulting, and humiliating to the people of Telangana".
Governor Soundararajan, during her address after unfurling the tricolour, commended Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy's government for its efforts to propel Telangana onto the global stage, according to a PTI report. She further highlighted the success of Telangana's recent engagements at the World Economic Forum summit in Davos, securing significant investments totaling Rs 40,232 crores with global and domestic companies.