Speaking to mediapersons here, Union Home Minister L K Advani and BJP General Secretary M Venkaiah Naidu maintained that the party had every right to celebrate the occasion and accused the Communists of aligning with the Razakars.

Besides the BJP, the Congress as well as the Andhra Pradesh government today held separate functions to mark the merger of Hyderabad in the Indian Union. Former prime ministers P V Narasimha Rao and I K Gujral attended a meeting organised by the Swami Ramananda Tirtha Memorial Trust.

Leaders of the CPI who were associated with the Telangana movement have, however, criticised the BJP for celebrating the occasion on the ground that the party did not exist at that time and for raking up communal feelings. But, the BJP leaders refuted both the charges.

Quotingextensively from a book ``The Story of the Integration of Indian States,'' authored by VP Menon, secretary to free India's first Home Minister Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, the Home Minister said: ``I am not surprised by their reaction which had a historical background.''

Reading out portions of the book, Advani alleged that there was a nexus between the Communists who waged an armed struggle even after the accession of Hyderabad on Sept 17, 1948, and the Razakars, a Muslim fanatic organisation propped up by the Nizam after 1947.

In the book, Menon said: ``The most disconcerting news which reached us was that Razakars had allied themselves with the Communists. In 1943 the Nizam had banned the Communist party throughout the State and it was lifted in 1948. Moreover, we came to know that the Communists were truly an ill-assorted pair, for whereas the former wanted to establish a Muslim oligarchy in the State, the latter's purpose was to exploit the turmoil and confusion so that they could take possessionof the State and ultimately spread their tentacles to the rest of India. Each wanted to use the other for their own ends.''

Advani criticised the Communists for keeping mum over the liberation of Hyderabad and its accession to the Indian Union. ``They continued their struggle even after September 17, 1948, and again it was Sardar Patel who dealt with them sternly,'' he said.

Drawing an analogy in the attitude of Communists then and now, Advani said that their (Communists) criticism against the May nuclear blasts conducted by the scientific community of the country was similar to that opposition to the liberation and accession of Hyderabad state.

``While every Indian citizen felt proud over the tests, it was the Communists as well as some western countries who criticised the government. The same Communists are now criticising us for celebrating the occasion. Those who are aware of history would not be surprised,'' he said.

Advani, who was to participate in another function at Gulbarga marking theHyderabad merger, cancelled his visit following sudden eruption of some trouble locally. The Karnataka Government advised him to cancel the programme, Venkaiah Naidu said.