Give us majority: Venkaiah

Hyderabad: Senior BJP leader M Venkaiah Naidu on Sunday stated that the party backed Telangana Bill in Parliament even though the Congress introduced a ‘defective’ Bill. He felt that it was time for people to forget the past, focus on development and back his party, which, various surveys predict as the single largest after ensuing general elections.

Talking to reporters here, Naidu stated that several State parties had assured the BJP of contributing 25-30 MP seats, if it stalled the Bill. However, the party leaders chose to honour their promise on T, not bothering about seats.

He flayed the Seemandhra MPs’ talk of crediting Rahul Gandhi for the Bill amendments in the Rajya Sabha. The BJP leader asserted that the special category status accorded to the residuary State was not a mean achievement because, for the first time after independence, such status was given to a State located outside of hilly and border areas. Naidu said the two regions should support Narendra Modi, as the party was more credible than the Congress in fulfilling promises made after the State division.

Quoting surveys conducted by different agencies which predict 240 seats for the BJP-led NDA, he urged the people to fill the gap of 40 seats, required for majority, to assume power.