The BJP's effort to win over Telangana activist groups fetched uncertain results Tuesday with the party coming under pressure from them to take a take more vociferous stance on the separate state issue when Parliament sits for its monsoon session Wednesday.
At a roundtable organised by the BJP here on Tuesday, Telangana Joint Action Committee (TJAC) chairman Prof Kodandaram nudged the BJP to stall Parliament proceedings and prove its fidelity to the Telangana cause. Other separatist speakers said they would believe the BJP's Telangana credentials only if national leaders of the party came to the forefront and stalled Parliament proceedings as they did on other issues last year.
"The Telangana issue is a national issue," said Prof Kodandaram. "Some 850 people have died for it. What can be of more pressing importance for the BJP?"
The undertone of several of the speeches at the roundtable was that the BJP has not raised its decibel level high enough for them to acknowledge it as a party truly supportive of Telangana.
The speakers' vehemence was not something the BJP's state leaders had bargained. The roundtable served as a platform for Telangana separatists to point out the BJP's shortcomings on the issue. The round table saw wide participation by the rainbow coalition fronting the Telangana movement.