By IANS,
New Delhi : The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Friday sought a roadmap from the government on a proposal to carve out a separate Telangana state from Andhra Pradesh, saying parliament should be taken into confidence on the move.
Raising the matter “with a heavy heart” during zero hour in the Rajya Sabha, BJP member M. Venkiah Naidu noted he had been “repeatedly saying that the house should be taken into confidence. Let the government come to the house with a roadmap”.
“I don’t want to complicate the issue by disrupting the functioning of the house but the government should do its homework and take people into confidence,” he added.
“We need to have clarity on contentious issues like the status of Hyderabad,” Naidu pointed out.
Pointing to the extreme passions that had been generated on both sides after Home Minister P. Chidambaram announced late Wednesday that the process had been set in motion for the creation of a Telangana state, Naidu said “unnecessary tensions” would arise “unless people are taken into confidence”.
After Deputy Chairman K. Rahman Khan asked the government to make a statement, Prithviraj Chavan, the minister of state in the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO), said he would convey the sentiments to the home minister.
The BJP had forced an adjournment of the house Wednesday when it pointed to the deteriorating condition of Telangana Rashtra Samiti (TRS) leader K. Chandrasekhara Rao, who was on a fast unto death to press for a separate Telangana, and demanded a statement from the government.
The issue rocked the house for 20 minutes and Chidambaram, who was present throughout, sat silently through the proceedings. Chandrashekhara Rao broke his fast after the home minister’s announcement the same night
On Thursday the BJP had accused Chidambaram of breach of propriety for having made a public announcement on Telangana when parliament was in session.
Calm was restored only after Chidambaram said he had no option but to make the announcement when he did because it was necessary to restore normalcy in Andhra Pradesh.
The Telangana announcement has divided the state’s politicians, with 119 legislators from the ruling Congress, as also the Telugu Desam Party and the Praja Rajyam submitting their resignations to the assembly speaker. Two MPs – one each from the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha – have also submitted their resignations to the presiding officers of the two houses.