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Muhurat fixed, Telangana’s new Secretariat to be opened on 17 Feb, with 2 CMs and a deputy in attendance

The chief minister, along with other national leaders, will address a huge public meeting thereafter at Parade Grounds in Secunderabad.

Raj Rayasam

Published Jan 24, 2023 | 4:55 PM ⚊ Updated Jan 24, 2023 | 6:50 PM

The new Secretariat will take up 20 acres out of a total area of about 29 acres. (BRS Party/Twitter)

The new Secretariat will take up 20 acres out of a total area of about 29 acres. (BRS Party/Twitter)

The muhurat for the inauguration of the new and ultra-modern state Secretariat in Hyderabad has been fixed for 11:30 am on 17 February, the birthday of Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao.

The chief minister himself will declare the Secretariat open at the auspicious hour, flanked by several national leaders.

Two CMs and a deputy

KCR has invited national leaders, including Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin, Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren, Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Tejashwi Yadav, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar’s representative, JDU President Lalan Singh, and Dr BR Amdedkar’s grandson Prakash Ambedkar.

This is the second event where KCR will be seen with national leaders — the previous one being the BRS public meeting at Khammam on 18 January in which chief ministers Arvind Kejriwal, Bhagwant Singh Mann, and Pinarayi Vijayan, and former UP chief minister Akhilesh Yadav attended.

Poised to go national

The inauguration of the Secretariat, which has been named after BR Ambedkar, in the presence of the national leaders is being viewed as yet another attempt of the chief minister to project himself as a national leader.

This comes in the wake of his resolute steps to broad-base the BRS across the nation and throw his hat in the ring to vie for the prime minister’s seat in 2024.

The chief minister, along with the national leaders, will address a huge public meeting thereafter at Parade Grounds in Secunderabad where KCR is expected to shed more light on the road map ahead for his fledgling BRS and provide an outline of the party’s ideology and philosophy.

Inauguration day

According to Roads and Buildings Minister Vemula Prashanth Reddy, the Secretariat’s inaugural event will begin at 11:30 am and will continue for one hour.

Prior to the inauguration, vedic scholars will perform a vastu pooja, chandi yagam, and sudarshana yagam.

About the new Secretariat

The works related to the construction of the modern Secretariat building began on 4 January, 2020.

Initially, the new Secretariat was expected to cost as estimated ₹400 crore, but it subsequently shot up to ₹617 crore.

The new Secretariat will take up 20 acres out of a total area of about 29 acres. The designers were Chennai-based firm Oscar and Ponni Architects. The building is expected to reflect the traditions of Telangana.

There is a huge dome on top of the new building being constructed across 7.88 lakh sq ft, which will have the national emblems on them.

There is expected to be a wide courtyard that will house a massive water foundation, likely to arrest the attention of visitors. The chief minister’s office will be located on the sixth floor of the building.

Also Read: KCR moves to name Telangana Secretariat after Ambedkar

Push-back from Opposition 

Meanwhile, BJP state president Bandi Sanjay Kumar has questioned KCR as to how he could inaugurate the Secretariat on his birthday when it has been named after Dr BR Ambedkar.

Speaking at the BJP state executive meeting held in Mahabubnagar, he demanded that the new building be inaugurated only on BR Ambedkar’s birth anniversary.

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