The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Monday charged the Congress Party of betraying the people of Telangana for the last 56 years, and said that the ruling party at the Centre is confused on the issue because there is no ideological commitment.
BJP spokesperson Prakash Javadekar said Telangana has always experienced betrayal by the Congress.
"It's a continued saga of 56 years of fight for justice and 56 years of continuous betrayal by the Congress of the people of Telangana. Telangana is a logical state, it's a feasible state and must be made forthwith," Javadekar told Asian News International (ANI) here.
"Congress confusion is because there is no ideological commitment. When you don't have any ideological position and you look only through the prism of elections then you end up with such a mess," he added.
Javadekar further said the BJP wants Telangana to happen.
"But the rumors which are floating are very serious, Hyderabad to be made Union Territory. How can you think Telangana without Hyderabad as an integral part of it?" asked Javadekar.
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"First basically, let Congress declare that they want to do Telangana, bring the bill we will support and Telangana will happen," he added.
According to certain media reports, Hyderabad is likely to be a Union Territory for five years and will act as joint capital of the two states to be created out of the bifurcation of Andhra Pradesh.
The Union Territory will be administered by a Lieutenant Governor. The Governor of Telangana state will be the ex-officio Lieutenant Governor of Hyderabad in these five years.
Media reports further state that a proposal to this effect is going to be put up to the Union Cabinet before August 5.
Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N. Kiran Kumar Reddy has so far reiterated his stance for maintaining a united Andhra Pradesh at any cost.
Several ministers and MPs from Andhra Pradesh have been camping in Delhi over the last 2-3 days to discuss the issue with the top leadership.
Congress MPs from Telangana have so far accused the Centre of following what they call a 'one-step-forward-two-backward' approach when it comes to addressing their demand for a separate state.
The Centre's flip-flop over the issue began in December 2009 when the then Home Minister P. Chidambaram promised the formation of a new state only to go back on it after a few days.
The issue was later pushed before a committee headed by Justice B.N. Srikrishna. This panel did not come up with a tangible solution, but instead presented six options.
These included the creation of a Telangana Regional Council within Andhra, bifurcation of the state into Telangana with Hyderabad as the capital and Seemandhra with a new capital; bifurcation of the state into Seemandhra and Telangana after making Hyderabad a Union Territory; bifurcation of the state into Seemandhra and Telangana with enlarged Hyderabad metropolis as a Union Territory; bifurcation of the state into Rayala Telangana and Coastal Andhra; and maintenance of status quo.