BJP gives green signal in favour of Telangana

Dec 10: A day after the Union home minister, Mr P. Chidambaram, announced the process of formation of a separate Telangana state, the BJP said it is ready to extend its support to a bill on Telangana, if it was introduced in Parliament and would give constructive suggestions on it. The party also said it favoured the inclusion of Hyderabad in the proposed state of Telangana.
However, the senior BJP leader, Mr Venkaiah Naidu, was critical of the government for not sharing details of how it planned to carve out the new state. “We wanted the government to share with the House the contours of the plan and roadmap for creation of the state. Unfortunately, the government did not have the courtesy to take Parliament into confidence especially when it is in Session,” Mr Naidu said.
In response, the Union home minister, Mr P. Chidambaram, said he had no option but to make the late night announcement on Wednesday, setting in motion the process of carving a Telangana state out of Andhra Pradesh. “When he (Mr Naidu) raised the issue in the House on Wednesday, the government was not in a position to respond as consultations were still underway. When the consultations were completed very late at night, we couldn’t brook any delay (in making the announcement),” Mr Chidambaram said. “What I said (on Wednesday night) is a restatement of the earlier stand of the government which is well known. It was necessary to persuade (Telangana Rashtra Samiti chief) Mr K. Chandrasekhar Rao to call off his fast and to restore normalcy in the state,” the home minister added.
The CPI(M), meanwhile, opposed the formation of a separate Telangana state, saying it would open a Pandora’s box of demands for smaller states.
Speaking on the issue, the CPI(M) leader, Mr Sitaram Yechury, said, “Though it is a good initiative taken to defuse the situation in Andhra Pradesh, we have been opposed to the formation of separate states. However, our Opposition did not stop the formation of Uttarakhand, Chhattisgarh and Jharkhand which have seen no development since they came into being.”
Key UPA ally, the Trinamul Congress, said that it is yet to take any view on the issue of the creation of a separate state of Telangana. Party chief Mamata Banerjee when asked about the issue on Thursday chose to remain tight-lipped, merely saying “No comments”.
Welcoming the government’s announcement, the JDU president, Mr Sharad Yadav, said he had been in favour of Telangana state for long. “They got late but are going in the right direction,” said Mr Yadav.
With the Centre blinking on the issue of formation of Telangana, the RLD chief, Mr Ajit Singh decided to revive his demand for Harit Pradesh to be carved out of Uttar Pradesh after Parliament Session.
“Centre’s decision to bring a resolution in the Andhra Pradesh Assembly on formation of Telangana is a welcome move. It is a good beginning. I will convene a meeting with like-minded groups (those seeking smaller states) after the Parliament session and revive my demand for Harit Pradesh,” said Mr Singh.