MUMBAI/HYDERABAD: Newly elected Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) president Nitin Gadkari on Sunday attacked the Congress party over the Telangana issue and said that the Congress was unable to handle the prevailing situation in Andhra Pradesh.
Addressing a meeting of party workers here, Gadkari told party workers that he had a message for them: “You can win.” Gadkari along with deputy leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha Gopinath Munde urged the party workers to start preparing for the next parliamentary polls.
Elaborating on his message, Gadkari said: “This should be the attitude. We surely will unfurl the flag at the Red Fort in Delhi.”
Gadkari and Gopinath Munde were accorded grand felicitations in Mumbai for the first time after they assumed new responsibilities in New Delhi. Attacking the Congress led United Progressive Alliance government, Munde said: “Today, Congress is in power. We are facing price rise and corruption. We would expose them thoroughly before the public. And I am sure we would emerge victorious. But we have to start preparing for the 2014 elections from now.”
Meanwhile, Chhattisgarh Gov. E. S. Lakshmi Narasimhan has been given additional charge of Andhra Pradesh on Sunday following the resignation of Narayan Datt Tiwari. Narasimhan is going to have his hands full, because of the ongoing stir in Andhra Pradesh over the separate Telangana statehood issue and the political uncertainty that has prevailed in the State since the death of the then Chief Minister Dr. Y S Rajasekhar Reddy in a helicopter crash on Sept. 2 this year.
The State has been virtually in turmoil since Telangana Rashtra Samithi president K Chandrasekhar Rao undertook a fast on Nov. 29 demanding the formation of separate Telangana state. Telangana has witnessed renewed violence since Dec. 23 while the Coastal Andhra and Rayalaseema regions were rocked by agitation for a fortnight from Dec. 10 to 23.
The appointment of the 64-year-old Narasimhan is significant since he is a retired Indian Police Service officer incidentally belonging to Andhra Pradesh cadre. Hailing from Tamil Nadu, he had joined the IPS in 1968. He served in Intelligence Bureau as Special Director and Director for several years. He was appointed as the Governor of Chattisgarh after his retirement from service.
