Telangana Bill: BJP rejects match fixing allegations with Cong

New Delhi: The BJP today rejected allegations there was a “match fixing” between it and Congress for the passage of Telangana Bill in parliament and hit back at the Left and Trinamool Congress saying till recently they were “partners in corruption” of UPA government. “They say there was a match fixing as if BJP was part of UPA government. The Left was an ally in UPA I and TMC was till recently a part of UPA. They were the partners in corruption,” BJP leader M Venkaiah Naidu told reporters here after the passage of the Andhra Pradesh Reorganistion bill. [caption id=“attachment_1401139” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Venkaiah Naidu speaks in the Rajya Sabha. PTI[/caption] He said BJP had flagged certain issues, including a special package for Seemandhra region. “Government tried to satisfy us. There are certain shortcomings in the bill. But they will be recififed after BJP comes to power in the next two months.” TMC, which staged a protest in Rajya Sabha during the debate on the bill, said “the bill’s form and content as passed by the Lok Sabha was illegal.” “We had given a letter to the Rajya Sabha Chairman (Hamid Ansari) this morning mentioning our opposition,” said TMC MP Derek O’ Brien outside Parliament House. Trinamool Congress is conerned about the fall out of the Telangana decision on Gorakhaland issue. The hilly region of West Bengal is seeking separate statehood for long. Similarly in Maharashtra, Shiv Sena has been staunchly oppposed to any division of the state where demands for creation of Vidarbha are raised occassionally. In the Rajya Sabha, Sitaram Yechury of CPI-M said “there is match-fixing between the ruling party and the opposition” and added the Chair should not get into such match-fixing. Trinamool Congress members kept shouting “Congress-BJP bhai, bhai”. CPI leader D Raja said while CPI-M had walked out, his party was in the Rajya Sabha as it supports the measure. Meanwhile, BSP chief Mayawati said her party supports formation of smaller states. “We support creation of Vidarbha in Maharashtra…but at the same time there should be a package for poor states too. It should be on the basis of uniformity, not political considerations,” she said. She also said that despite carving out Uttarakhand, UP still was a big state and there was a need for its further reorganisation. PTI