The Bharatiya Janata Party on Monday stepped up the offensive in Parliament demanding that the government bring a Bill in the current session for creation of a separate Telangana State, as violence rocked parts of Andhra Pradesh on the issue.
In a coordinate move, the BJP raised the issues in both the House of Parliament, with senior party leader M. Venkaiah Naidu demanding in the Rajya Sabha that the United Progressive Alliance government make its stand clear on the long-pending demand.
In the Lok Sabha, party Deputy Leader Sushma Swaraj said Telangana Rashtra Samiti chief K. Chandrasekhar Rao was on a fast-unto-death for a separate State and the people were agitating for it.
Mr. Naidu took it up during zero hour and said the Congress had earlier allied with the TRS during the 2004 elections and the issue of Telangana figured in the President’s address.
He said the issue was pending a solution for the past five years and as the principal party in the Opposition, the BJP had already extended support for a separate Telangana. The BJP leader said that according to reports, Congress representatives of the region in the Cabinet were for Telangana and sought to know who was opposing it.
“Andhra Pradesh is on the boil. The government needs to take a categorical stand, do you want the tension to continue? You don’t want a solution… if you have the political will, bring the Bill [for creating a separate State],” Mr. Naidu said.
As the Opposition insisted on the government’s response, Deputy Chairman K. Rahman Khan said the Chair could not give such a direction for zero hour submissions. However, Union Information and Broadcasting Minister Ambika Soni who was in the House said the sentiments expressed by the members would be brought to the notice of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Home Minister P. Chidambaram.
Later, BJP members Prakash Javadekar, Rudra Narayan Pany and others also stormed into the well in the Rajya Sabha, a move that was not appreciated by Mr. Khan. He urged the members not to set a new convention by insisting on a response from the government.
