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BJP puts rider on support to Telangana Bill
BJP puts rider on support to Telangana Bill, Arun Jaitley, Telangana Bill, creation of Telangana. Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha Arun Jaitley said the BJP will support the creation of Telangana, but it will insist on justice for the people of Seemandhra.
- Shift from its earlier unequivocal stand
- We want justice to Seemandhra: Jaitley
New Delhi: Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha Arun Jaitley said the BJP will support the creation of Telangana, but it will insist on justice for the people of Seemandhra. For a party that has unequivocally supported the issue of Telangana all along, it has lately nuanced its position by insisting on ensuring justice for Seemandhra, more as a rider for its support to the creation of Telangana, which was not the position till the recent past.
In his Facebook post, senior BJP leader Arun Jaitley said, “The proposal for creation of a separate State of Telengana will now be coming up before Parliament. The BJP has consistently supported the proposal to create a State of Telangana. At the same time, we believe that justice should be done to the region of Seemandhra.”
In 1998, the Kakinada Resolution of BJP approved the creation of Telangana. In 2006, BJP President Rajnath Singh brought it on the national political agenda of the party. The NDA also cleared it. Later, the BJP leaders repeatedly dared the Congress to bring the Telangana Bill and that the party would unconditionally support it. Lately, the BJP has brought in conditionality – of ensuring justice to Seemandhra – which was not originally factored in the BJP stand.
Arun Jaitley severely criticised the Congress, saying the manner in which the Congress has gone about on this issue displays a complete lack of statecraft. In 2000, the NDA government decided to create the three States of Uttarakhand, Jharkhand and Chhattisgarh. The creation of these three States helped the regions, he said.
Jaitley praised the then Home Minister L K Advani for handling well the creation of the three new States. Although the creation of Chhattisgarh and Uttarakhand did not face much resistance, there was an initial resistance by the ruling party of Bihar, the RJD. Advani held wide consultations with all the States. A comfort level was given to each of the States that the creation of the new States would not adversely impact the parent States. Advani assured that the residuary State would be compensated.
Unanimous resolutions were passed by the legislatures of the three States. Thereafter, both Houses of Parliament discussed the issue and by a general consensus approved the creation of the three States. Jaitley said it is still not too late. Interests of both the regions should be factored in and justice should be done with regard to the issues of power, irrigation and eventual creation of new capital for Seemandhra. “A good cause, which is badly handled, can hurt the cause. I do hope that the needful is done and Telangana sees the light of the day,” Arun Jaitley added.
