By IANS,
Hyderabad : Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) prime ministerial candidate L.K. Advani Thursday promised that if the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) was voted to power in next year’s general elections, it would carve out a separate Telangana state from Andhra Pradesh within 100 days.
Addressing a massive public meeting here as part of his ‘Vijay sankalp yatra’, Advani declared the BJP’s support to the demand for a separate Telangana and said his party was ready to join hands with other parties fighting for the cause.
“A bill for formation of a separate Telangana will be tabled in parliament within 100 days of the NDA forming its government at the centre,” he said while seeking the people’s support for the BJP-led alliance.
With this meeting, Advani sounded the bugle for the BJP’s campaign in Andhra Pradesh for the Lok Sabha and assembly elections, both scheduled to be held early next year.
Alleging that the Congress had betrayed the people Telangana, Advani urged them to question the ruling party on why it had failed to deliver a separate Telangana state despite making a promise in the 2004 elections.
Advani said the BJP’s state unit had sent a proposal for Telangana to the then NDA government but it could not act on it due to the alliance it had with the Telugu Desam Party (TDP), which was then against bifurcation of the state.
“In recent days several parties support the demand for a separate Telangana. But had they supported it when the NDA was in power, a separate Telangana would have been formed by now,” he said referring to the change of stand by the TDP.
Advani tried to project himself as the Barak Obama of India while appealing to people to bring about a change.
“You can bring a change like the one witnessed recently in America. By electing Obama, the Americans brought a revolution creating hopes and confidence. I appeal to you to bring a similar change in India and create hope,” he said.
Highlighting the achievements of the previous NDA government, the former deputy prime minister urged the people to compare this with the performance of the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government.
Advani said the UPA was the first government in the history of independent India that has no achievement to its credit. “The five years of UPA government are a history of betrayal. It has betrayed the common man,” he said while targetting the Manmohan Singh government over the price rise.
He alleged the UPA government had surrendered before terrorism and had compromised with terrorists. He criticised Prime Minister Manmohan Singh for terming Pakistan a victim of terrorism. “India has been telling the world that Pakistan is responsible for terrorism but Mr. Manmohan Singh has given a certificate that like India, Pakistan is also a victim of terrorism,” he said.
He also hit back at the Communist parties for extending support to the UPA government in 2004 to keep the NDA out of power. “Today, the Communist parties are fighting elections against the Congress but after the elections they will again join hands with the Congress to keep BJP and NDA out of power,” he predicted.
Thousands of people from different parts of the state attended the public meeting, which was the first show of strength of the BJP in Andhra Pradesh after its drubbing in 2004.
Top BJP leaders, including central leader M. Venkaiah Naidu, state BJP president Bandaru Dattatreya and fromer BJP president Bangaru Laxman, were present at the meeting.
Advani made a dramatic entry at the venue, standing on a huge lotus, the party symbol, as it emerged from behind the dais.
The BJP leader administered the oath to 10,000 BJP youth workers and 5,000 workers to fight against terrorism.
One thousand lawyers wearing black coats also joined the BJP and vowed to work for its victory in the next elections.