HYDERABAD: The cause for a separate Telangana state won a new champion on Thursday as president of Janata Party Dr Subramanian Swamy pledged to file a petition in favour of formation of Telangana state. Addressing a gathering at the national convention on social justice and new states at the Taramati Baradari on Thursday, he said, “The government went back on the promise made by home minister P Chidambaram in 2009 of initiating steps to form a separate state. It is a breach of trust by the government and I am willing to file a petition in the high court or if need be, at the supreme court.” Formation of a separate Telangana will be the impetus which will drive formation of smaller states demanding their freedom, observed Dr Swamy who was delivering the inaugural lecture at the two-day convention. Representatives for the cause of separate statehood across the country were present at the convention organised by the National Forum for Telangana State.In his address, Swamy also reiterated that he will continue to pursue those involved in the 2G spectrum scam, though his petition accusing home minister P Chidambaram of complicity was dismissed earlier in February. “This time I have filed my petition in supreme court and it will come up for hearing on March 16. I can assure you that the home minister will be found guilty in 18 different cases,” he claimed. The politician also claimed that if the electronic voting machines (EVMs) are not manipulated this time, it is unlikely that Congress would come back to power.The noted economist also said that the formation of smaller states would provide an impetus to development. “The fallout of threat to internal security cited by Sri Krishna Commission will be addressed once the states are created. It is not unfair to ask for two separate states for nine crore people,” said Swamy. Senior Telangana leader Konda Laxman Bapuji cited failure of democracy as the reason for the delay in granting separate statehood to Telangana. “When democratic means of protests fail, should we resort to violence to make a point? The centre need not consult the state government for sanctioning the formation of a new state and only needs to follow Article 3 of the constitution,” said the 97-year-old freedom fighter.
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