NDA will support bill on Telangana, says Gadkari

HYDERABAD - Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) president Nitin Gadkari Tuesday said if the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government tables a bill in parliament for formation of a separate Telangana state, the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) would wholeheartedly support it.

Addressing a public meeting organized by the party at Adilabad, about 300 km from here, Gadkari assured people of Telangana that the NDA was with them in realizing their dream of a separate state.

“I have come to assure you that all 165 MPs of NDA will support the bill on Telangana if Sonia Gandhi (Congress president) fulfils her promise by tabling the bill,” he said.

The BJP chief warned the government against suppressing the Telangana movement by using paramilitary forces. “It is shameful that the government which failed to tackle terrorism has deployed paramilitary forces in Telangana to suppress peaceful agitation,” he said.

Gadkari said if any force was used against the students and other protestors in Telangana, NDA would not allow parliament to function during the budget session.

The BJP leader said the fight for a separate state of Telangana was the fight for self-respect by four crore people of the region.

He promised that Telangana would be on the top of its agenda if NDA comes to power in the next elections.

He was confident that NDA would come to power in the 2014 elections and it would take up the Telangana state formation immediately.

He said Telangana was on top the agenda of the NDA meeting to be held Wednesday.

Gadkari described the Srikrishna committee as “time pass” committee and said it was constituted by the government to drag the Telangana issue.

“This is the reason the BJP has decided not to attend the eight-party meeting convened by the centre on Jan 6,” he said.

The BJP held the public meeting two days before the centre is to make public the report of the Srikrishna committee.