The State Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders recently got the stick from the RSS for neglecting the party’s interests in the Seemandhra in their anxiety to achieve the separate Telangana goal.
Seemandhra leaders of the party, who are incensed over the party’s one-sided stand, met BJP president Rajnath Singh in New Delhi on Wednesday and urged him to exert pressure on the Centre to address the concerns of the people in that region when the Telangana Bill came up for discussion in Parliament.
RSS functionaries held a meeting some time ago with State BJP leaders when they reviewed the ongoing agitation in Seemandhra. They reportedly told the State leaders that while geographical bifurcation was acceptable “division of hearts” was not good for the country.
They reportedly questioned how a national party could neglect a region which has 25 Lok Sabha and 175 Assembly seats and why the State BJP leadership failed to restore confidence among the people in Seemandhra where the BJP offices were ransacked at 19 places. They sought to know if State BJP president G. Kishan Reddy was in a position to tour that region.
During the meet, the Seemandhra BJP leaders criticised some State leaders for using the language of TRS and pointed out that representatives of a national party they could ill-afford to do it. Subsequently, it was decided that leaders from both the regions should meet Mr. Rajnath Singh at Delhi on the issue.
However, following objections from Seemandhra functionaries, leaders from Telangana, including Mr. Kishan Reddy, much to his discomfiture, dropped the idea of accompanying them to Delhi.
Meanwhile, the Central party is planning to create two units after the Union Cabinet approves the note on bifurcation of the State,
A press release issued by the BJP central party office said party functionaries from Seemandhra also met veteran leader L.K. Advani, M. Venkaiah Naidu, Arun Jaitley and others. They exhorted the national leaders to exert pressure on the Centre to address the genuine concerns of Seemandhra people with regard to capital, sharing of river waters, revenue, problems of government employees, and safety and security of people settled in Hyderabad.
While accusing the Congress of mishandling the Telangana issue from the beginning, it said “while standing committed to creation of Telangana, the BJP will work hard to ensure inter-regional equity is maintained.”
Tirupati Staff Reporter adds: A party delegation from Chittoor district, including State spokesperson G. Bhanuprakash Reddy, former State President Chilakam Ramachandra Reddy and Kisan Morcha national spokesperson Challapalli Narasimha Reddy drew the attention of the national leaders the issues that could crop up post-bifurcation. “The party should move ahead only after arriving at a solution on these issues,” Mr. Bhanuprakash Reddy said in a release.
