With passions flying high over Telangana, the Bharatiya Janata Party sought to corner the government in Parliament over the issue of the separate state, demanding a bill in the current session itself for carving it out of Andhra Pradesh.
Deputy leader of BJP in the Lok Sabha Sushma Swaraj and senior party leader M Venkaiah Naidu in the Rajya Sabha raised the issue in Zero Hour saying the government should bring a bill in right earnest.
"Andhra Pradesh is on a boil. You don't want a solution. What is the stand of Congress and UPA on Telangana? You said you wanted a consensus. I don't think anybody is opposing now," Naidu said accusing the ruling party of acting in a manner which is giving rise to tensions.
BJP members Prakash Javadekar, Rudra Narayan Pany and others also stormed into the well of the Upper House over the issue. Swaraj told Speaker Meira Kumar that one of the members K Chandrasekhar Rao is on a fast-unto-death to press the issue, the agitation over which is intensifying each passing day.
The refrain of Naidu and Swaraj was that since their party is favouring formation of separate Telangana and Congress too has been speaking in support of it for some time, the Constitution Amendment bill could be passed easily. In the Rajya Sabha, S S Ahluwalia demanded a statement from the home minister on the Telangana issue. Minister Ambika Soni assured the House that she would apprise the home minister and the prime minister about the matter.
