Former Minister and Telangana Nagara Samithi chief Nagam Janardhan Reddy met BJP national president Rajnath Singh in New Delhi on Thursday amidst speculation that he would be joining the BJP soon.
Ample indications were available that he was veering towards the BJP with Mr. Reddy later asserting that only a BJP-led NDA government at the Centre would give Telangana State and that neither the Congress nor any other alternative would grant statehood to the region.
It is learnt that Mr. Reddy is planning to contest on a BJP ticket from Mahabubnagar Lok Sabha seat in the next election.
Telangana issue
Talking to The Hindu later, he said that he had urged Mr. Rajnath Singh to exert pressure on the Centre on the Telangana issue in Parliament. He accused the State and Centre for remaining indifferent to the issue although around 1,000 youth had committed suicide.
Asked if he was joining BJP, he said that he would consult his party cadre and take a decision in the next few weeks.
He said that an individual alone would not be able to achieve Telangana and he was keen to bring all those supporting the Telangana cause on to a single platform. He had also met CPI leader Suravaram Sudhakar Reddy in this regard.
Mr. Reddy said that there was also a need for a strong leader at the Centre and criticised Prime Minister Manmohan Singh for not “taking a tough stand” over the ongoing row with China on the incursion by its troops in the Ladakh region.
