BJP hails victory in Telangana bypolls

The BJP today hailed its victory in the Assembly bypolls in the Telangana region of Andhra Pradesh as a verdict in favour of its vociferous demand for carving out a separate state for the locals in the southern state.

"This is the people's verdict for Telangana. Now the Congress should not delay the formation of a separate state as both the states of Telangana and Andhra Pradesh will co-exist peacefully and prosper rapidly," BJP spokesperson Prakash Javadekar said.

He is also BJP in-charge of Andhra Pradesh and has often raised his voice in support of the formation of Telangana.

Telangana Rashtra Samiti (TRS), which had joined the BJP-led NDA before the Lok Sabha elections last year, has retained six of the 12 seats which went to polls and was leading in five others. BJP has won the remaining one seat.

Ballot papers were used in the bypolls, leading to a delay in the final outcome.

Javadekar said that he has moved a resolution in the Rajya Sabha on the formation of Telangana and was hopeful that it would come up for discussion in the Upper House on August 6.

"I intend to put up a strong case in the Rajya Sabha for the formation of the new state," he said.