Telangana debate generates heat in RS

DELHI / HYDERABAD: The differing stances of political parties in the state on the separate Telangana state demand came to be seen in the Rajya Sabha on Friday when a BJP private member’s bill on the issue came up for discussion.A heated debate took place on Prakash Javadekar’s motion on Telangana. Senior Congress leader V Hanumantha Rao said the central government had taken a pro-Telangana stand in December 2009 when Telugu Desam  president N Chandrababu Naidu pledged his support for the demand for separate Telangana. Rao said: “Chidambaram had made the statement about starting the process of creation of Telangana on December 9, 2009 after Naidu said on December 7 that he would support it.”His remarks led to a furore with BJP and TDP members seeking the home minister’s clarification. TDP’s T Devender Goud alleged that the Congress was trying to throw the blame on the TDP without spelling out its stand, and sought a clarification from home minister P Chidambaram.Javadekar said the Congress was seeking the opinions of other parties on the issue but was not making its own stand clear. “All parties are present here and let everyone, including the Congress, make its stand clear,” he demanded. This led to a pandemonium with members from both sides attacking each other and forcing the Chair to adjourn the House for 30 minutes.When the House reassembled, Basawaraj Patil (BJP) said the government should heed the sentiments of the people who were agitating for Telangana statehood and wondered why the government had not accepted their demand. Y Sujana Chowdary (TDP) said industrial growth in the Telangana region had declined and students committed suicide but the government remained inactive.He said the Centre’s contention that Telangana would be created only after a “unanimity” was arrived at cannot be the ground for creation of the state.His view was contested by Renuka Chaudhury (Cong) who said the opposition was trying to mislead the House. Mohammad Ali Khan (Cong) questioned the intention of the NDA government and parties like the TDP and the TRS on Telangana.Nand Kumar Sai (BJP) demanded introduction of a government bill on creation of Telangana state in the remaining two days of the ongoing Parliament session.