Massive two-day dharna by Joint Action Committee in Delhi
Extending total support to the stir for separate Telengana state, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) promised to create the separate state within 100 days, if it comes to power at the Centre. Addressing the two-day dharna organised by Joint Action Committee of Telengana at Jantar Mantar on April 30, Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Smt Sushma Swaraj appealed to the people of Telangana to defeat the Congress in the next elections for its failure to fulfill its promise on Telangana state. At the same time, she asked them to vote for the BJP and get Telangana within 100 days if the BJP came to power at the Centre.
She said it was disgraceful for the government that could not grant a separate state despite an announcement on Sonia Gandhi’s birthday three years ago. “As a mother, I was moved when hundreds of students from Telangana committed suicide for a separate state,” she said. “Do not trust the UPA government anymore,” she told the people of Telengana.She reminded that consistently she raised the issue of Telangana in parliament and she addressed rallies in Karimnagar, Hyderabad and Warangal.
“If the Congress Government honours its commitment on Telangana and brings the Bill in parliament, we will support it,” she added. Commenting on the protest by Telangana Congress MPs against their own party in Parliament House, she advised the Telangana Congress MPs to quit the Congress and join the struggle for separate Telangana. The Telangana demand was neither unconstitutional nor anti-Andhra, she asserted. This was a perfectly valid demand, she said. “I have come into your midst to express my own and my party’s solidarity with the people of Telangana,” she declared. Nearly 1,000 youths sacrificed their lives. How many more deaths the Congress wanted in order to act, she asked.
Electrifying the atmosphere and lifting the spirits of the impressive gathering at Jantar-Mantar BJP vice-president Uma Bharati said a Telangana would be self-sufficient. She appealed to the people fight with vigour and do not let the fight get weak. She said the state would surely be created. What is needed is to keep the fight continue. BJP MP Smriti Irani also supported the agitation for Telangana and said a separate state would surely be created.
The two-day dharna began on April 29. The protestors mounted a pressure on the Centre to bring a Bill in the current session of the Parliament. Addressing the protestors on first day senior BJP leader Prakash Javadekar said the BJP is with the people of Telangana in this fight. He said the UPA government had no honesty and added that the Congress which got 33 Lok Sabha seats in 2009 would not get even 3 in the next elections. He said even if the government brought the Telangana bill at this very moment, his party would support. TRS leader Eetela Rajender demanded that the central government should apologise the people of Telangana, for playing with their sentiments. He said his party would continue its fight until Telangana state was achieved.
The TRS and BJP employees unions also extended support to the protest dharna. JAC chief Kodandaram, BJP state president Kishan Reddy, party leader Dattatreya, MLAs Eetela Rajender, KTR, Nagar Kurnool independent MLA Nagam Janardana Reddy and others participated in the two-day dharna.
