Describing the Congress led UPA's endorsement of a separate Telangana as "political gimmick", the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Saturday said there was a "big gap" in the decision becoming a reality.
"It is a political gimmick. The Congress is saying the same things about creating Telangana which it had been saying few years back. Nothing is going to happen. We feel the decision has been made more in political interests," BJP national spokesperson Meenakshi Lekhi said here.
"Creation of a state involves going into many larger details involving governance and administration. It cannot be created by merely announcing it in a press conference. That is why we believe there is too much gap between promising Telangana and it becoming a reality," Lekhi said on the sidelines of an Association of Corporate Adviser & Executives organized event here.
Asserting that the BJP was in favour of smaller states, Lekhi called for a state reorganisation committee to look in details into the demands of various separate states that have cropped across the country after the Telangana decision.
"Principally we are in favour of smaller states from the point of view of administration and governance. But then you don't create a state just because it is being demanded. Such demands should be looked into detail by a state reorganisation commission which shall ascertain which demands are legitimate and justified," said Lekhi, an apex vourt lawyer.
Justifying the need of a separate Telangana, Lekhi however refused to comment on West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee accusing the UPA of creating unrest in the country by granting Telangana.
"Seven of the districts of Telangana are backward due to the bad governance it was subjected to over the years. A smaller state ensures better flow of administration. She (Banerjee) might have her own apprehensions and might be justified but I cannot comment on that," she said.
The BJP leader also criticised the central government for opposing in Supreme Court the plea made by the Central Bureau of Investigation that its director should get more powers and that his tenure should be extended to three years.
"This government has turned the CBI into the Congress Bureau of Investigation or rather the Congress Bureau of harassment. The agency is not be blamed for that but this government which has been interfering with its independence and functioning," added Lekhi.
