Hyderabad: Defence Minister Rajnath Singh will be the chief guest at the ‘Hyderabad Liberation Day’ celebrations to be organised by the Union government at Parade Ground here on Wednesday. The event is held to celebrate the anniversary of the merger of the erstwhile Hyderabad State under Nizam rule with the Indian Union (on September 17) in 1948.

Rajnath Singh arrived at Hyderabad on Tuesday to attend the event. The Defence Minister was accorded a warm welcome by Union Minister G Kishan Reddy in the city.

Union Culture Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat, Union Coal and Mines Minister G Kishan Reddy and Union MoS (Home) Bandi Sanjay Kumar would also be present on the occasion, BJP sources said here on Tuesday.

Recalling the stellar role played by the country’s first Deputy Prime Minister Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel in the unification of the erstwhile princely state of Hyderabad with the Indian Union, Telangana BJP president N Ramchander Rao on Tuesday urged citizens to attend the function at Parade Ground in large numbers. The Central government has been organising the ‘Liberation Day’ for the last several years. Union Home Minister Amit Shah had attended the celebrations in 2023.