BJP unlikely to help Congress - TeluguPeople.com News

New Delhi: Now, the Telangana ball is in the BJP's court. The successful passage of the historic legislation on creation of separate Telangana State hinges on the support from the principal opposition party.

As a result, both the Seemandhra and Telangana groups are making a beeline to the BJP camp to present their respective cases to the saffron party leaders. The lobbying is set to intensify over the weekend.

On its part, the BJP appears to be in no mood to bail out the Congress-led UPA government from what it calls the 'Congress-made' mess in Andhra Pradesh.

BJP leaders have been displaying a moral grandstanding and arguing that the Vajpayee government had created three new States without any bad blood whatsoever and transition process was smooth.

The Congress leadership is preparing the ground to push the blame on BJP if the AP Reorganisation Bill fails to get the Parliament approval.

AICC General Secretary In-charge of Andhra Pradesh Digvijay Singh, clearly said that the government had done its best by introducing the Telangana bill amidst unprecedented opposition from the Seemandhra members.

The government even recommended suspension of the erring MPs and expelled some of them from the party. "Therefore, it was now for the BJP to honour its commitment by cooperating in passing the bill," he remarked.

However, Seemandhra leaders found some encouragement in Leader of Opposition Sushma Swaraj challenging the government and the Speaker Meira Kumar on the grounds that the bill had not been introduced in accordance with the rules and procedures.

The Seemandhra leaders are sticking to the same arguments given by Swaraj. These leaders are writing to the BJP leadership to 'protect their rights'.

Suspended MP and YSRCP leader Jaganmohan Reddy met Rajnath Singh in an attempt to convince the saffron party leadership against the bifurcation. The Telangana Joint Action Committee (TJAC) members met Sushma Swaraj to ensure that the party stuck to its commitment.

That the BJP is not ready to bail out the government was indicated by leader of opposition in Rajya Sabha Arun Jaitley on Friday. Jaitley wrote that the government had completely collapsed in 'dispute resolution as far as the creation of the Telangana State was concerned'.

He said the government did not seem to care about what happened after this session. However, Jaitley wrote that it was still not too late to pick up the threads and work towards larger consensus.

He suggested formation of a new capital for Seemandhra, creation of separate High Court, compensating the region with loss of revenue and comfort level in water and power sharing as possible issues for reconciliation.

Jaitley's suggestions are in tune with the BJP's stance that they want Telangana with full justice to Seemandhra. The party has already clarified that it was not in favour of passing such a crucial legislation without a structured debate.

According to BJP, the responsibility of restoring order depends on the government. The Bill can only be taken up after passing the Vote-on Account on Monday.

Meanwhile, Kiran and his colleagues are keenly following the statements being issued by BJP national leaders on the bifurcation issue. They are apparently pinning their hopes on the BJP to not back the Telangana bill, particularly after the likes of L K Advani wanted the Centre not to take up any other Bill except the vote-on-account given the acrimony over the State's division.

"BJP is our last hope now. Many of its top leaders are opposing the manner in which the Congress is seeking to push the Bill through but we do hope they will not back in the present form," a senior minister noted.