Telangana state if I become PM, says Advani

HYDERABAD: BJP leader L K Advani on Thursday set the tone for forthcoming polls, promising to initiate the process of statehood for Telangana within 100 days if the National Democratic Alliance is voted to power.

���Parliamentary polls could be in February or April, next year. Either way, NDA will place a bill in Parliament for Telangana statehood within 100 days if it assumes charge at the Centre,��� Advani said in a public address at Parade grounds on Thursday. The demand for Telangana, which covers the Telugu-speaking areas of the erstwhile Nizam���s dominion, started almost four decades ago. It has become an emotive issue now as the Congress has failed to deliver on the promise made in 2004 to carve out a separate state of Telangana.

Major Opposition parties in the state including Telugu Desam Party and the newly-formed PrajaRajyam are now promising statehood for Telangana to woo voters.