By BV Shiva Shankar
BJP not to back Congress on Telangana Bill in Parliament: Times of India
So BJP has taken the leap and is now firmly in running for SeemaAndhra votes. BJP would possibly put up candidates on half of seats in SeemaAndhra and half in Telangana. So 21 BJP candidates may be in running in AP.HYDERABAD: Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), the main opposition in Parliament, will not support the Andhra Pradesh Reorganization Bill-2013 in its present form, top leaders said in what appears to be a body blow to Telangana prospects.
Senior BJP leaders said the Congress was playing vote bank politics on the issue of AP bifurcation and the party has decided not to support such a move.
"The BJP is committed to the cause of Telangana, but not the way the Congress is dealing with it now. The BJP will deliver on the statehood once our government is formed in Delhi and it would be acceptable for the people of both Telangana and Seemandhra," party president Rajnath Singh said in New Delhi.
His party spokesman Prakash Javadekar, who was in Hyderabad to attend a party event, echoed similar sentiments and expressed serious doubts about the Centre tabling the Bill in Parliament before the general elections are notified in March next year.
In a scathing attack on the Congress, Javadekar said the UPA government had created a crisis in Andhra Pradesh as it has divided the people even before announcing division of the state. "The Congress did not follow what Atalji showed about how a state should be divided. The Congress has shown how it should not be done," said Javadekar at a party event, recalling how the NDA government successfully formed the three states of Jharkhand, Uttarakhand and Chhattisgarh.
Terming the Congress way of approaching state division as 'votebank politics,' the BJP spokesperson said his party would not support it, unless the interest of the people of Seemandhra are protected and their consent is taken.
"Seemandhra is also India and people of Seemandhra are our people. How can we allow the Congress to go ahead with their own political plans ignoring the grievances of Seemandhra people?" Javadekar asked.
Analysts said the latest statements by BJP leaders assume significance as it might throw water on celebrations by Telangana enthusiasts and the passage of the T-Bill in Parliament could fall through if the UPA government fails to muster enough numbers for smooth passage of the Bill. While BJP has 114 votes in the 537-member Lok Sabha, the Samajwadi Party (SP) with 22 seats has clearly said it would not support the division of AP, despite supporting FDI in retail and the Food Security Bill.
With YSR Congress president Jaganmohan Reddy roping in parties like Trinamool Congress (19), AIDMK (9), Biju Janata Dal (14), the numbers are slowly swaying against the formation of Telangana, they said.
Even the Congress with 205 seats cannot ensure full support of its own party members as its seven MPs from Seemandhra are opposed to it and even issued notice to move a no-trust motion against its own government.
If Telangana Bill does not pass in Lok Sabha, as seems likely, people in Telangana would know that there is only one party which can deliver on Telangana and that is BJP - not TRS, not INC, not even TDP.
If people in Telangana want Telangana they would be looking at a party which projects strength at the national level, and that is BJP.
What is interesting is that BJP has taken the plunge before the Bill comes up in AP Assembly, where Kiran Kumar Reddy and Jagan Mohan Reddy would have played their delaying politics and earning brownie points with SeemaAndhra people. So before attention can shift to the Assembly and those actors, BJP has made its position clear.
With DMK, SP, TMC making their position clear, BJP felt emboldened to take the step. Any case after the state elections not many parties would be coming to help INC to get majority for their plans. Even JD-U still has not got their special package for Bihar, and with Lalu out of jail, JD-U may itself be a bit miffed with Congress. Sharad Yadav too may not be too keen on giving JD-U support to Congress.
BJP has decided to be a player in Andhra Pradesh. A timely decision.