Telangana BJP chief G. Kishan Reddy ruled out any possible impact of the agitations in University of Hyderabad over the suicide by scholar Rohith Vemula, on the upcoming GHMC elections.
Addressing a joint 'Meet the Press' with Telangana TDP chief L. Ramana here on Friday, Mr. Reddy termed the agitations as `making a mountain of the molehill'.
"After Telangana was formed 11 dalit students committed suicide, without anybody making an issue of it. Despite the letter written by his daughter-in-law, Sonia Gandhi gave ticket to [Sircilla] Rajaiah in Warangal parliamentary elections, which resulted in three horrible deaths. Did Rahul Gandhi come to console the victim's family?" Mr. Reddy questioned.
Terming the protests and leaders' visits as politically motivated, he ascribed them to the GHMC elections.
Circumventing the question about TDP's stand on the UoH issue, Mr. Ramana said that the party leaders had already visited the victim's family and assured help.
Asked about "friendly competition" between TDP and BJP despite the alliance, Mr. Reddy said that it was not new to adopt the model in local elections. He expressed confidence that the alliance would win the elections. Brushing off the talk about MLA Raja Singh setting up a new party, Mr. Reddy said he was working for the party.
Referring to the newfound bonhomie between TDP and TRS as visible from Telangana Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao's visit to Amaravati, reciprocated by Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu's attendance at the 'Chandi Yagam', Mr. Ramana said that reconciliation has always been advocated by Mr. Naidu, and both the visits had nothing political about them.
The Meet The Press was organised by the Telangana State Union of Working Journalists (TUWJ).
