Delay on Telangana would have precipitated greater unrest: BJP

BJP today justified its support to the creation of Telangana saying any delay would have precipitated greater unrest and accused Congress of causing confrontation among the people of Andhra Pradesh over the issue.

Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha Arun Jaitley said BJP also managed to "extract" concessions from the government for Seemandhra to "safeguard" its financial interests as the party held the "balance of power" in numbers over the issue.

"We were able to extract from the government the commitment that Seemandhra would get a special category status for five years, investments there would attract tax incentives on the lines made available to other states, a backward region package would be given for districts of Rayalseema and north coastal Andhra Pradesh," he said in a statement.

He said it would be "unwise" to view the decision to carve out the new state through the "narrow prism" of political benefits or otherwise of the decision.

"Telangana had become a legitimate aspiration of the people of that region. The sentiment was so overwhelming that to delay it any further would have precipitated greater unrest. It was next to impossible to reverse the aspirations of that region.

"The mishandling of the issue in the last few years by Congress aggravated the problem. Instead of attempting to build consensus... warring factions of Congress created a confrontation between the people... To resolve the issue, one had to choose between political opportunism and statesmanship," he said.

Jaitley said BJP's state unit was committed to Telangana for over three decades and the central party endorsed it later.