The Congress in Telangana demanded to include a chapter on the role played by party president Sonia Gandhi in the formation of the state in school syllabus. The demand was raised by the party’s National Spokesperson Sravan Dasoju on the occasion of Sonia Gandhi’s 74th birthday. He urged Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao to include a lesson on the life of Sonia Gandhi and her contribution in making Telangana state a reality in school textbooks, as a mark of respect and gratitude.
"You are very much aware that, without Sonia Gandhi ji, Telangana would never have been a reality. The least we could do is to represent her monumental contribution by including her life in our school education syllabus," the Congress leader told KCR, as the Chief Minister is popularly known. "Just as one cannot deny the role of KCR ji, nobody can deny the role of Sonia Gandhi in Telangana formation. While KCR's and various others' role in the state formation has been mentioned in school syllabus, why not mention Sonia Gandhi's role too," Dasoju asked.
He recalled that Sonia Gandhi, as the chairperson of the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) and president of the Congress party, played a key role in granting statehood to Telangana in 2014. The Congress leader also pointed out that KCR himself had admitted on the floor of the Assembly that there would have been no Telangana without Sonia Gandhi. A Separate Telangana state was formed on June 4, 2014 and the resolution for the same was passed in the parliament on February 20, in the same year.
In 2015, the state government had included a chapter in the social studies textbook for Class 10, highlighting the role of KCR in the formation of Telangana state. The 14-page chapter mentions the revival of the Telangana movement by KCR in 2001, his fast-unto-death in 2009 and the mass protests led by him for statehood. The Congress leaders were upset over not including the role of Sonia Gandhi in the formation of the new state. The Congress party had termed this as the 'fascist tendency' and 'autocratic and dictatorial' attitude of KCR. They said the Telangana movement of over six decades was not confined to one individual and his party.
Senior party leader and former minister Mohammed Ali Shabbir recalled that KCR had stated in the legislative council that a separate Telangana state would not have been possible without Sonia Gandhi and had assured the House that her contribution in the formation of Telangana will be included in school syllabus. He said the Congress had been fighting for a separate state even before TRS was formed.