BJP wants concerns of Seemandhra addressed

Hyderabad: Notwithstanding the stiff opposition from Seemandhra legislators to discuss the State Reorganisation Bill in the state Assembly, BJP senior leader M Venkaiah Naidu has stressed for an extensive debate to dispel the apprehensions of the people of both Seemandhra and Telangana regions.

Addressing a press conference at the party office here on Sunday, the BJP leader felt that the onus was on the Centre to give more clarity regarding state bifurcation. Not only Seemandhra sections, even the Telangana community had raised objections over the contents of the draft Bill, he pointed out.

He clarified that the party’s Seemandhra unit, during their visit to New Delhi, did not ask senior party leader LK Advani to stall the division of the state, but it emphasised on the need for the protection of the rights of the Seemandhra people.

Reiterating that the BJP would support Telangana, he informed that pressure would be mounted by the party on the union government to ensure that the concerns of people of both the regions are addressed and that no animosity remains among them after the state bifurcation.

Dismissing talk about electoral understandings in the state, he said that the party would discuss about it only after the notification for the general elections was issued.

Meanwhile, Venkaiah Naidu stated that the flagship programmes of the Congress party such as food security, cash transfer and Aadhaar schemes did not fetch them votes in four states where the Assembly polls were held recently. The one-sided results showed that Congress was fast losing credibility among the people of the country. Even the minorities and the dalits rallied behind the BJP in those four states, he added.