BJP to contest Parakal bypoll

The party wants to contest Parakal seat and the candidate's name would be announced in a day or two, former Union minister Bandaru Dattatrreya told reporters here today.

The BJP has urged Joint Action Conmmittee (JAC) of Telangana to support the party in the by-poll, he said.

JAC had earlier said they would like either the TRS or the BJP to contest the by-election from Parakal to ensure there is no division of pro-Telangana votes and it was toying with the idea of fielding a consensus candidate.

The people of Telangana and Parakal voters have realised that a separate state for Telangana region would come into force only through BJP, which was in favour of smaller states, Dattatreya said.

"If the party wins the Parakal Assembly seat, the Congress would be forced to move a Bill in Parliament carving out a separate state for Telangana," he asserted.

Noting that TRS was not able to "digest" the victory of BJP in Mahbubnagar Assembly by-election in March, the senior BJP leader alleged that the TRS chief was working for short term political benefit and had "tacit understanding with YSR Congress", led by Y S Jaganmohan Reddy, in Parakal.

Meanwhile, party state spokesperson NVSS Prabhakar criticised the functioning of Rao, saying he had been carrying on the Telangana movement since 11 years, but failed to get a separate state.

He even had an election tie-up with different political parties for his selfish gain because of which he won the by-elections in Telangana, Prabhakar alleged.

He said TRS had tied-up with Congress party in 2004 election, making promise for Telangana state and later it had contested elections with the support of TDP and left it in 2009.

The Parakal Assembly win would definitely put pressure on Congress party to carve out a separate state for Telangana, Prabhakar said.