Hyderabad, January 7: The Bharatiya Janata Party national leader, Mr M Venkaiah Naidu, here on Thursday made it clear that the people of Telangana region would not believe and accept the recommendations of the Centre-sponsored Justice B N Srikrishna Committee on Telangana. Leave alone Six-point formula, the people of the region and the BJP would not accept even a 60-point formula recommended by the Committee.
Speaking to media persons, along with the State BJP president, Mr G Kishen Reddy, and general secretary, Mr. Bandaru Dattatreya, Former Union Minister, Mr N Ramchander Rao, at the State party office, Mr Venkaiah Naidu said that the demand for Telangana State was a political issue and it should be settled politically only. “How can we accept the Srikrishna Committee recommendations when we did not recognize validity of the committee?” Mr Naidu pointed out that the Congress party had promised to carve out separate Telangana before the 2004 elections and incorporated it in its manifesto. Demanding that the Congress-led UPA government take immediate steps to bifurcate the State as promised to the people, Mr Naidu said that his party would totally support if the government introduced a Bill for separate Telangana in Parliament.
Stating that development was possible through small States, the BJP leader said that his party was always favourable towards smaller States and they were committed to separate Telangana. He also urged the Centre not to whip up regional passions unnecessarily by conducting discussions on the recommendations of the Committee. Stating that there was no need for discussions on the committee recommendations at all as the people of the region were agitating for separate State for the past 60 years, he charged the government with wasting precious time by constituting committees and hold discussions whenever the agitation intensified. “When the Telangana people were taken for a ride several times in the past, how could they accept the Srikrishna Committee recommendations,” he asked. Stating that the people of the region were expecting a favourable report from the Srikrishna Committee since last year, Mr Naidu said the dream of the Telangana people remained shattered with the Panel suggestions.
The BJP leader also lambasted the Union and State government for failing miserably to rescue the calamity affected farmers in the State. Barring assistance from Calamities Fund, the Union government has failed to give even a rupee for the grief-stricken farmers, he lamented. He also pointed that the government’s assurance on rescheduling of bank loans for farmers remained only on paper.
NSS