BJP to intensify stir for separate Telangana

Hyderabad, Jan 9 (UNI) The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) today decided to step up stir to press for carving out a separate Telangana state from Andhra Pradesh.

A decision to this effect was taken at the party state Office-bearers meeting at the Shyamaprasad Mukherjee Bhavan here, party State President and former Union Minister B Dattatreya told mediapersons.

Mr Dattatreya dismissed as ''delaying tactics'', the ruling Congress talk of constituting second States' Reorganisation Commission (SRC) after dilly-dallying for over two-and-half years on the issue.

The party, which reviewed the political situation out of the Karimnagar and Bobbili bypolls, felt that there was no need to constitute second SRC, as the first SRC was very clear on separate state for Telangana, he said.

The party decided to intensify its state-wide agitation in support of the farmers, who were finding hard to save their crops, with the Government not in a position even to supply power for three to four hours to energise their pumpsets as against the promised 12 hours of power supply at the time of the elections, he added.

While the other southern states of Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Karnataka were able to get more power from the Central grid, the Rajasekhara Reddy Government had ''totally failed'' to persuade the Congress-led UPA Government at the Centre, he alleged.

The party decided to corner the Government on various issues, including rise in prices of essential commodities, he said.

UNI