BJP urges Manmohan to introduce Bill on Telangana

Expressing concern over continuing violence and protests in Andhra Pradesh over the Telangana issue, the Bharatiya Janata Party on Thursday urged Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to immediately bring a Bill in Parliament to pave the way for creation of a separate State to help defuse the volatile situation in the southern State.

Stating that the BJP would fully support the Bill in Parliament, senior party leader Venkaiah Naidu criticised the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance government for adopting a “casual approach” while dealing with the “burning issue.”

“Students are committing suicide… there are protests and bandhs everyday that is hurting the life and business in the progressive State. The Centre should take all political parties into confidence and create the separate State without any further delay,” he said in the Rajya Sabha while taking part in the discussion on Motion of Thanks to the President's Address.

Questioning the logic behind the constitution of Justice Srikrishna Committee, Mr. Naidu said that instead of putting the issue on a “pause” mode, the Centre should take a bold step and facilitate the early creation of the separate state. Criticising Union Home Minister P. Chidambaram for his hasty announcement that a Telangana state would be formed — which led to all kinds of trouble — he urged the Prime Minister to pay “personal attention” to the issue and talk to all parties for restoring normality to Andhra Pradesh.

BJP MP Prakash Javadekar, while raising the issue during zero hour in the Rajya Sabha, said his party was committed to statehood for Telangana and citied examples of the three States of Jharkhand, Uttarakhand and Chhattisgarh that were created during the NDA regime without any hassles.