Bharatiya Janata Party President Amit Shah has said the Telangana Rashtra Samithi did not extend the hand of friendship to the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) Government, but the Centre would collaborate with all regional parties in getting important bills passed in Parliament after the Rajya Sabha elections.
At a press conference immediately on arrival at the Shamshabad airport for a party meeting here, he said on Sunday that the TRS had not taken any step to connect itself with the BJP or the Centre. The BJP will prove its strength and emerge as a force to reckon with in the 2019 general elections in Telangana.
The BJP, he said, was preparing to network with regional political parties across the country after June 11 in a bid to garner their support to get several bills, including that pertaining to the Goods and Service Tax, passed in Parliament. Without elaborating, he added that the BJP was all for seeking support from regional parties even if they were not NDA partners because the party was always for taking its agenda of development forward, irrespective of the ideology of a political party.
About its relationship with the Telugu Desam Party in Andhra Pradesh, he said: “We are friends and we will continue working together”. Asked about the issue of special status for A.P., he said that there were some Constitutional constraints according to the 14 Finance Commission. However, the spirit of a special status would be given to A.P. and the Centre would implement it, he said.
On criticism by the Congress that the BJP was shouting from the roof-tops about its ‘achievements’ and celebrating its 2-year rule at a time when several States in the country were reeling under drought and farmers’ suicides were on the rise, Mr. Shah shot back, asking, “did we say it was a celebration? We are just going to the media across the country to showcase what we have done and it is your responsibility to take it to the people.”
