Maya to support separate Telangana in Parliament

The Bahujan Samaj Party will support the bill for creation of a separate Telangana state if it was introduced in the Parliament, the party supremo and Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister, Mayawati, said in Hyderabad on Saturday.

Saying that her party was for smaller states, she said that even some other areas of big states, where weaker sections of the population live, should be considered for a separate statehood.

"People in Telangana are financially backward. As Dr Ambedkar had said, we are for smaller states. We would support Telangana state bill in the Parliament if it is introduced," Mayawati said addressing a meeting of BSP workers.

The United Progressive Alliance government was misleading the people on this issue, she alleged. She also promised to make a Dalit person the chief

minister of Telangana, if BSP were to come to power, adding that the party would contest all the Assembly seats in the next elections in Andhra Pradesh. She also demanded that UPA government come out with a national policy on land acquisition.

She alleged that both the Congress and BJP tried to malign her image by slapping false cases against her. Both the national parties were exaggerating small issues in Uttar Pradesh, as though presenting them through a magnifying glass, she said.