Karimnagar: Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) state president G Kishan Reddy reiterated that the party’s Telangana Poru Yatra was aimed to infuse confidence among the people of the region that they would get a separate state. Separate Telangana would be possible only with BJP. Other parties cheated the people of the region, he added.
In an exclusive interview, Kishan Reddy said that when NDA was in power at the Centre, the Telangana issue was not in their national agenda. Some excerpts of the interview:
Q: Considering your 13-day tour of Telangana, can you throw light on how the separate state could be achieved?
The BJP aimed to dispel the doubts among the people about the formation of separate Telangana.
The party was successful to certain extent in removing the doubts. We were able to explain the people that the Congress had failed to keep up its promise.
Q: Your party went to polls with the slogan `one vote – two states’ in the past. But why Telangana could not be carved out during the NDA regime at the Centre?
The state unit of our party made a resolution in favour of Telangana in 1998. However, our leaders at national level did not approve the resolution initially. Only after Rajnath Singh became party chief, the resolution was accepted in 2006. The issue was not in party’s national agenda when NDA was in power at the Centre. At present, separate Telangana issue has been included in the national agenda and our leaders at national level are also participating in the agitation for Telangana.
Q: While on one hand your party speaks in favour of small states’ formation and on the other keeping silent on further bifurcation of Uttar Pradesh. Why have you chosen an agitational path in case of Telangana?
The Telangana issue cannot be linked with the division issue of Uttar Pradesh. Those who link the two issues are traitors. Political parties play vote bank politics in UP whereas the agitation for separate Telangana has come from people. Any political party cannot question BJP for our stand on UP issue. We have already created Uttaranchal.
After getting the opinion from state committee in UP, the national committee would take a decision on the issue relating to division of UP.
Q: Do you think that BJP would benefit in forthcoming polls due to the present Yatra?
Definitely the present Poru Yatra would benefit the party (BJP) in the forthcoming polls. People are attending in large numbers to my public meetings and our cadres are also happy with the success of the tour.
Q: What is the message you want to convey to the party cadres?
Telangana people have been agitating for the past 50 years for separate state. Several hundreds of students and youth lost their lives during the agitation.
All parties, keeping aside their political affiliations, have to give a united fight for achieving Telangana. The agitation for separate state should continue.
The leaders should restrain from playing with the lives of the people of the two regions – Telangana and Andhra.
Interview By: Eeda Madhukar Reddy
The HANS India