As life in the Telangana region of Andhra Pradesh has come to a standstill owing to the continuous stir by various sections demanding a separate State, the BJP on Sunday warned the UPA government not to play with the people's sentiments.
At the same time the party, which had granted statehood to Uttarakhand, Jharkhand and Chhattisgarh during 1998-2004 under the BJP-led NDA regime, said it would carve out a Telangana State too if it came back to power at the Centre.
BJP spokesperson and Rajya Sabha member Ravi Shankar Prasad told a meeting of the Delhi Telangana Joint Action Committee (DTJAC) that the BJP's assurance on Telangana could be taken as a promise. The Centre should respect the overwhelming support for Telangana.
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Mr. Prasad criticised Home Minister P. Chidambaram for keeping quiet after announcing the “Telangana formation process” on December 9, 2009, and appointing the Justice B.N. Srikrishna Committee to look into the issue and even obtaining the Committee's report.
What happened to the promises made by the UPA-I in its Common Minimum Programme on Telangana, he wanted to know.
Similarly, he wondered why was there a delay in accepting the resignations of MPs who had put in their papers protesting against the delay in the formation of a new State.
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“I have the highest regard for the office of Lok Sabha Speaker. But why the resignations are kept pending? Why is it that all democratic institutions are being manipulated to delay the formation of the State? This cannot be appreciated,” he said.
Patience running out
Senior Congress leader K. Keshava Rao of Telangana region, who too had submitted his resignation letter from the Rajya Sabha, said party functionaries from the region were “frustrated” and their patience was running out.
If the Congress did not want to give Telangana, then why did Mr. Chidambaram announce initiation of the process for Telangana formation? His words should carry some weight, Mr. Rao added.
Both Mr. Prasad and Mr. Rao criticised Justice Srikrishna, who headed the Committee on the Telangana demand, for allegedly suggesting usage of rubber bullets for quelling the stir.
Peddapalli Congress MP G. Vivekanand referred to the reported “loss” suffered by the State in view of the stir and said if something had to be achieved, a few “sacrifices” had to be made. Those losses could be compensated if Telangana was formed immediately.
Senior TDP leader N. Janardhana Reddy criticised the Centre's stand on the issue and said it would be held responsible if the situation went out of control in Telangana.