TNS to merge with BJP today

Senior politician from the Telangana region Nagam Janardhan Reddy is all set to begin a new innings from Monday. He is scheduled to merge Telangana Nagara Samithi with Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) at the 'Telangana Atma Gourvava Sabha' meeting to be held at Nizam College grounds on June 3. BJP national president Rajnath Singh will be the chief guest for this meeting.

The saffron party is mobilising a huge crowd from every nook and corner of the city for the public meeting. Even followers of Nagam Janardhan Reddy from Mahbubnagar district are expected to throng the venue for the meeting.A Earlier in a 'meet the press' programme, Nagam pointed out that Telangana Nagara Samithi took up many activities like Ikya Deeksha and Telangana Bharosa Yatra in the last two years for the cause of Telangana statehood.

Nagam reminded that he joined Telugu Desam Party at the very same Nizam College ground on April 11, 1982 in the presence of N T Rama Rao. "My objective behind joining Telugu Desam was to fight against Congress, which had crushed the 1969 Telangana movement by force. I was a student then and personally witnessed the crackdown that resulted in loss of 369 innocent lives," he said.

Nagam explained that he decided to join the BJP to continue the fight against Congress till the realisation of Telangana statehood.

Demands KCR's road map for TA

Hyderabad: Former minister and Nagarkurnool MLA Nagam Janardhan Reddy demanded that TRS chief K Chandrasekhar Rao declare the road map for Telangana statehood before asking the electorate to rally behind his party in the next general elections.

"Even if TRS wins all the 17 MP seats, it will have to knock the doors of a national party like BJP eventually for the realisation of the statehood dream," he said.

Speaking at the meet the press, Nagam insisted on raising a public debate as to how could a regional party could table a separate statehood Bill in the Parliament without the support of a national party.A "Voting for a regional party (in a direct reference to TRS) that should invariably seek the support of a national party is futile. People should think and cast their votes for BJP in 2014 general elections in order to fulfill the five-decade old statehood dream," he said.

Nagam said that the BJP-led NDA would secure victory in the next parliamentary elections, a fact asserted by various surveys that have predicted less than hundred seats for the Rahul Gandhi-led UPA.A Nagam informed that he shunned an offer from the TRS because the scope of a regional party is very limited in realisation of Telangana statehood when compared to a national party like BJP.

Replying to a question whether he sought an Assembly ticket for his son, Nagam stated that he does not encourage family politics. "However, the final decision on who should be fielded from Nagarkurnool would be taken based only on the opinion of the public," he added.