The main Opposition BJP on Friday suggested that the UPA Government could still work towards "a larger consensus" on issues like creation of a Capital for 'Seemandhra' and compensating the region for loss of revenue caused by the division of Andhra Pradesh.
Stating that though the Prime Minister's Office and Home Ministry "are completely paralysed" on account of the opposition "from within" , leader of Opposition in the Rajya Sabha Arun Jaitley said it was not too late to resolve the issue by addressing the key issues at hand. "…Creation of a capital for Seemandhra, eventual creation of a separate High Court in Seemandhra, compensating the region with regard to the loss of revenue caused by a bifurcation, comfort level with regard to water and power in the regions are amongst other issues which are capable of being resolved," the senior BJP leader said.
He recalled how the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) had "amicably" resolved these issues while creating the three States of Jharkhand, Uttarakhand and Chhattisgarh. Jaitley said the causes of the parliamentary stalemate and the ugly scenes on Thursday "are essentially UPA-provoked." He alleged that no effort has been made by the Government to reconcile the differences between representatives of Telangana and Seemandhra. "The Government has not provided a forum for conciliation. Parliament is unable to discuss the aspirations of the two regions. In the process Indian democracy continues to get a bad name," said the BJP leader.
Terming the incident as "disgraceful" and "sad" for Parliament, BJP veteran lK Advani attacked the Government, saying it was hell-bent on getting the Bill passed anyhow even if it means suspension or expulsion of members. He said the Congress party is solely responsible for it. On Thursday leader of Opposition in the lok Sabha Sushma Swaraj blamed the Government for the impasse on the Telangana issue adding the BJP would now not initiate any dialogue with the Government on the issue.
Meanwhile, YSR Congress Party chief Jaganmohan Reddy, suspended on Thursday along with 15 other lok Sabha MPs by Speaker Meira Kumar, on Friday met BJP president Rajnath Singh and sought his support against the move to bifurcate Andhra Pradesh. "We (Singh and himself) had a very detailed discussion on the topic. He assured us that he would be discussing the matter with his party colleagues and a decision (on the Telangana Bill issue) would be taken very soon," Reddy said. "I am hopeful that wisdom would dawn upon all Opposition parties and all of them would stand up against this injustice," Reddy said.