Advani has announced that if the UPA government introduces a Telangana Bill in Parliament, the BJP will support it.
Bharatiya Janata Party leader Lal Krishna Advani on Wednesday accused the Congress-led UPA Government of betraying the people of Telangana by going back on its promise on Telangana statehood.
Addressing a public meeting as a part of his nation-wide Jan Chetna Yatra at Exhibition Grounds at Nampally on Wednesday evening, Advani said that the granting of statehood for the region could be decided by only 2 persons - Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh and Congress president Sonia Gandhi.
"If they decide to give Telangana, then on 1 January 2012, the sun will rise in the state of Telangana," he said.
However, Advani said that the Congress was not serious in granting statehood for the region.
"It is unimaginable that the Centre has remained non-responsive when over 600 people committed suicide and thousands of employees are on strike for over 35 days for a single demand," he said.
Saying that the BJP-led NDA government had formed 3 smaller states - Jharkhand, Chattisgarh and Uttaranchal - he said that no constitutional amendment was required to bifurcate a state.
He said that there was no compulsion that the Assembly of the state concerned must pass a resolution for its bifurcation.
"A state can be carved out by the Parliament with a simple majority," he said.
Advani announced that if the UPA government introduces a Telangana Bill in the winter session of Parliament, then the BJP, which has 116 members in the Lok Sabha and 50 in the Rajya Sabha, will support it.
Speaking about the Jan Chetna Yatra, he exhorted people to say no to corruption. Stating that this was the 6th Yatra of his political career, Advani said that the enthusiasm he found in the Jan Chetna Yatra is much higher than in his previous Yatras.
"People usually think that only religious issues excite people, but what I have read and observed is that people get equally enthused by the feeling of nationalism," he said.
"The subject of the Yatra is neither Advani nor BJP - it is India," he said, reacting to statements that the Yatra is aimed at mobilising people for the next elections.
The BJP veteran said that when the BJP was in power, India used to be compared with China in terms of development. It was being projected as one of the superpowers of the 21st century, he said.
However, he said, India's corruption and black money deposited in tax havens have become the subject of discussions on both domestic and international fora.
The black money deposited in foreign banks must be brought back and spent for the developments of villages across the country, he said.
Advani tried to balance his speech with both corruption and Telangana, although apparently he was not properly briefed about the suicide figures in Telangana or the Bathakamma festival. However, he ended his speech with the slogan 'Jai Jai Telangana'.
The public meeting was also addressed by senior BJP leaders M Venkaiah Naidu, Bandaru Dattatreyya and state unit president G Kishan Reddy.
Earlier, addressing a public meeting at Siddipet in Medak district, Advani promised the crowds that a Telangana state would be formed if the NDA returns to power in the next elections.
After the meeting, Advani had a surprise visitor. He was welcomed by Medak TRS MP Vijayasanti.
Later, Vijayasanti maintained that she had met Advani in her personal capacity and not on behalf of the TRS party. (INN)