Criticising Union Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad for his comment that a decision on Telangana statehood would be taken only after arriving at a consensus, BJP today said Congress should clarify its stand on the issue. Bifurcation of Andhra Pradesh is certainly not an easy task, unlike that of UP, MP and Bihar.

The Centre cannot take a decision on Telangana till a consensus is arrived at, Azad had told reporters in Hyderabad yesterday. Targetting Azad over the statement, former Union Minister and senior BJP leader Bandaru Dattatreya today said the situation in the three states (UP, MP and Bihar) was more serious than it is in Andhra Pradesh now.

But the NDA government, under the leadership of Atal Bihari Vajpayee, had tried for a consensus and carved out three states (Uttarakhand, Chhattisgarh and Jharkhand), he said. Instead of trying to bring consensus, the UPA government was blaming the Opposition parties, Dattatreya said alleging that Congress was fooling the people of the region by using the word consensus.

The BJP leader said that the people of Telangana were confused by the contradictory statements of Congress central leaders and union ministers, as well as state Congress MPs and ministers on the issue.
He appealed to the people to support the BJP, which is in favour of smaller states.

- PTI