BRS launches 1 lakh signature drive for Secunderabad Cantonment Board merger

The BRS launched a one-lakh signature campaign seeking the merger of Secunderabad Cantonment Board with civic corporation, accusing BJP and Congress leaders of politicising the issue and creating public confusion instead of pursuing it collectively

Hyderabad: Seeking the merger of the Secunderabad Cantonment Board with the civic corporation, the BRS is stepping forward to reflect the opinion of local residents and launched a campaign to collect one lakh signatures.

The first signature for this movement was taken from BRS working president KT Rama Rao, following which the aspirations of the people will be submitted to Central and State governments.

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Attempts were being made to turn the Cantonment merger issue into a political drama and confuse the public. Those who held protests on the issue had failed to clearly explain to the people why the protest was started and why it was abruptly withdrawn.

The merger issue is a public issue. When such an issue is taken up, it must be pursued in a united manner by bringing everyone together, beyond party lines. However, conducting protests without a clear roadmap and creating confusion among the public in the name of a protest is not appropriate. With contradictory statements coming from various platforms, including the BJP, confusion among people has increased.

An appeal was made to everyone who supports the merger, irrespective of political parties or organisations, to extend their support to the 1 lakh signature movement.

The statement by Eatala Rajender that there was opposition to the Cantonment merger, along with the fact that local BJP has been conducting programmes against the merger for a long time, clearly exposes their stand. The sudden withdrawal of the protest by Congress leader Shri Ganesh indicates that the merger issue was taken up merely as a political stunt.

After completing the collection of one lakh signatures, the BRS will send copies of the representations to Eatala Rajender, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, and Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, to demonstrate the level of public support for merging the Cantonment Board with the corporation.