Senior BJP leader Sushma Swaraj on Saturday made it clear that whether the party enters into an alliance with the Telugu Desam Party or not, it will not go back on its support to Telangana.
Addressing a mammoth rally in support of Telangana in Mahbubnagar on Saturday evening Sushma Swaraj said, “Alliance or no alliance, there will be no change in our stand on Telangana. The BJP was and will always be in support of Telangana State. No alliance will be at the cost of Telangana.”
Her remarks were significant in the context of speculation about an alliance between the TDP and the BJP. She referred to reports in a section of Andhra Pradesh media that the BJP will take a U-turn and betray the faith of Telangana people.
“BJP will not think of betraying the people of Telangana even in dream,” she said. “Personally this daughter of yours is giving you this word that the BJP will never let you down,” she said.
Referring to the meeting of TDP president N Chandrababu Naidu with BJP president Rajnath Singh, Sushma said that Naidu had discussed the problems of Seema-Andhra regions but after the meeting, Rajnath Singh had reiterated that there will not be any change in BJP’s stand in support of Telangana.
She did not make any direct comment on the possibility of an alliance adding that it was in the realm of future possibility. “Alliances will be needed to provide a strong and stable Government at the Centre,” she said.
Demanding that the UPA Government should bring the Telangana State Bill in the Winter Session of Parliament at any cost, Swaraj warned that if the Congress lets down the people of Telangana once again, the BJP will play a more active role in the second phase of Telangana agitation. “We will wait only till December,” she said.
“The Telangana Bill should be in accordance to the Congress Working Committee resolution that the Telangana State will have 10 districts and Hyderabad as the Capital,” she said adding that BJP will extend full and unconditional support to such a Bill in Parliament.
She said that the Congress Working Committee’s decision had brought cheers to the people of Telangana who were struggling for decades and who made many sacrifices. “But two months have passed to the announcement and nothing happened, giving rise to some apprehensions in the hearts of the Telangana people,” she said.
She made passing reference to the agitation sweeping the Seema-Andhra regions saying that the problems like sharing of river waters and electricity were natural when the States are divided and they will be resolved smoothly. “Once Telangana State becomes a reality, the situation in Seema-Andhra will also normalise,” she said.
Swaraj said that the BJP was supporting only a geographic division of the State and not the division of the hearts and minds of the people. “We want a division like that of Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh,” she said.
Swaraj also had a word of caution for the leaders and people of Telangana — don’t make provocative speeches and statements which will create insecurity among the Seema-Andhra people living in Hyderabad. “Humility in victory is necessary,” she said.