Andhra Pradesh - Hyderabad

BJP denies talks with Chiru party

HYDERABAD: State BJP president Bandaru Dattatreya on Wednesday denied that his party was holding parleys with Chiranjeevi’s Praja Rajyam for a possible tie-up.

At a press conference here, he reiterated that BJP would contest all the seats on its own in the coming elections. As part of making it stronger, ‘sankalp yatras’ were being organised in the three regions, beginning September 20.

Referring to Congress president Sonia Gandhi’s tour to State on September 11, the BJP leader criticised her for maintaining silence on statehood to Telangana for the last four-and-half years. He recalled her statement before the last election that the party respected the “sentiments” of Telangana people. He demanded the Congress to spell out its stand.

Replying to a question, he said Telangana Thalli leader Vijayashanti had met L.K. Advani and favoured that all parties supporting Telangana should work with BJP. He said the Telugu Desam was worried about ‘uncertainty’ if it supported Telangana.

On the Left parties’ move to build a non-Congress and non-BJP alternative, he accused them of playing a ‘negative’ role.

It was the Left which brought the Congress to power in the State and the Centre and wondered if people would believe them if they talk of an alternative front. They were in a dilemma whether to go with the TDP or Praja Rajyam.

Referring to the admission of fertiliser shortage by Agriculture Minister N. Raghuveera Reddy, he demanded his resignation on ‘moral’ grounds. He accused the Government of ‘suppressing facts’ by claiming that there was no shortage.

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