BJP backs demand for separate Telangana state

Hyderabad, Feb 18 (ANI): National Democratic Alliance (NDA)-led by Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Thursday backed the demand for a separate Telangana state.

Addressing a rally here, senior BJP leader Lal Krishna Advani said that party would not rest till Telangana was formed.

"It is resolve of the Bharatiya Janata Party that we will not rest till Telangana is formed," said Advani.

The BJP, which headed the NDA government from 1998 to 2004 at central level, didn't bring a bill in Parliament for a separate state because its ally Telugu Desam Party was opposed to it.

"But then Telugu Desam Party was not in favour of forming Telangana. So respecting the coalition dharma we brought only three bills for Uttarakhand, Chhattisgarh and Jharkhand. We didn't bring bill for Telangana," added Advani.

Earlier, the Telangana Rashtra Samiti (TRS) MLAs created ruckus in the Assembly as they allegedly manhandled an MLA of the Loksatta party, Jayaprakash Narayan, for not supporting statehood for Telangana.

TRS and TDP MLAs also disrupted Governor ESL Narasimhan"s speech on the opening day of the Budget Session. They tried to tear his speech copy and climbed on the podium.

Meanwhile, over two lakh government employees of Telangana have boycotted work from today as part of their non-cooperation movement launched to mount pressure on the State and Central governments to grant separate statehood.

Several protests and shutdowns had brought Andhra Pradesh to a near halt last year as pro-Telangana activists pressed their demand for the separate state.

A concerned Central Government appointed a judicial commission headed by former Supreme Court judge Justice Srikrishna in March last year to look into issue of the separate statehood after series of huge demonstrations and suicides.

The report, submitted to Union Home Minister P. Chidambaram in December last year has suggested at least six options including maintaining status quo in the state or bifurcating the state. (ANI)