'Not invited', claims Telangana Guv amid row over absence at Secretariat event

Hyderabad, May 2: Amid the continuing row over Telangana Governor Tamilisai Soundararajan's absence during the inauguration of the newly-constructed state Secretariat, the Raj Bhavan clarified on Tuesday that she was not invited.

According to Raj Bhavan, no invitation was sent to the Governor for the event held on Sunday.

The Governor's office also denied allegations levelled by a state minister that the Soundararajan did not attend the inaugural programme despite an invitation sent to her on this count.

Raj Bhavan said in a statement that the Governor didn't attend the programme because there was no invitation, adding that there was no other reason.

On Sunday, Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao inaugurated the Secretariat in the presence of ministers, MPs, state legislators, BRS leaders and top officials.

The clarification from Raj Bhavan came a day after Energy Minister G. Jagadish Reddy lashed out at the Governor for skipping the inauguration ceremony. He also slammed Opposition leaders for not attending the event even after the state government had extended invitations to them.

The minister went on to allege that they (Opposition leaders) skipped the event because they were unable to digest the development of Telangana.

Stating that the inauguration ceremony was an official programme conducted by the state government, he claimed that the government followed the protocol and extended invitations to the Governor, MPs, MLAs and MLCs of all parties in the state.

Stating that the Secretariat building is a symbol of Telangana's pride and self-respect, he said Chief Minister KCR, who built the architectural marvel, will be remembered in history forever.

The state government had earlier snubbed the Governor by not inviting her for the unveiling of the 125-feet statue of B.R. Ambedkar near the Secretariat on April 14.

Soundararajan had then told news channels that she felt bad about it.

"It was a big event, but there was no invitation for me. Had I got the invitation, I would have participated in the inauguration of the statue of our honourable Ambedkar ji," she had said.

The Governor and the KCR government have been at loggerheads since 2021, when she did not accept the recommendation of the state Cabinet to nominate BRS leader P. Kaushik Reddy as a member of Telangana Legislative Council under Governor quota.

Soundararajan had repeatedly targeted the KCR government for not following the protocols and not respecting the Constitutional office of the Governor.

Ministers and leaders of the ruling BRS had hit back at her, saying she was acting like a BJP leader.

The relations between the Governor and the state government soured further last year when the government conducted the Budget session of the Assembly without the customary address of the Governor.

Earlier, she had alleged that the government forced her to unfurl the national flag at Raj Bhavan on Republic Day citing Covid-19 restrictions, though the celebrations in other states were held at public places.

The rift reached the Telangana High Court earlier this year after the state government filed a petition seeking direction to the Governor to approve the Budget. On the court's suggestion, they amicably sorted out the issue.

While the Governor agreed to approve the Budget, the government softened its stand to begin the Assembly session with her speech.

However, the ties between Raj Bhavan and Pragati Bhavan (CM's official residence) hit an all-time low when the state government approached the Supreme Court seeking direction to her to take a decision on the Bills passed by the state Assembly but were pending with the Raj Bhavan.

The Governor subsequently approved a couple of Bills, sent back some to the government and also forwarded a few to the President of India.