The BJP leader has reportedly given this assurance to the State BJP leaders from Telangana region who called on him here on Saturday. Talking to reporters later, Nagarkurnool MLA Nagam Janardhan Reddy said that Rajnath Singh has assured that the BJP would support the Telangana Bill when introduced in Parliament. He said that the State-unit leaders have assured him that the party would be able to win 10 Lok Sabha seats from the region after the formation of Telangana State.

Rajnath Singh, according to sources, have advised the State-unit leaders to avoid groupism and division on region-basis. He said that supporting formation of smaller States was BJP’s policy and all party men would to abide by it. INN

The Delhi High Court, on October 10, had agreed to hear Rajagopal’s petition seeking directions to Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar to accept his resignation which he submitted on August 2. The hearing on this petition was scheduled to be held on Tuesday. However, on October 18, the Speaker rejected the resignations given by all 13 MPs from Seemandhra region, including Rajagopal. Consequently, Rajagopal, along with two other Congress MPs Undavalli Arun Kumar and A Sai Pratap, submitted his resignation again on Monday.

In view of the changed circumstances, Rajagopal withdrew his petition from the Delhi High Court. Further, sources say that Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kamal Nath also advised the Vijayawada MP to withdraw his petition. INN

The MPs Lagadapati Rajagopal (Vijayawada), Undavalli Arun Kumar (Rajahmundry) and A Sai Pratap (Rajampet) handed over the resignation letters to the Lok Sabha Secretary-General as the Speaker was on a tour of Himachal Pradesh.

Talking to reporters later, Lagadapati said that he was resigning from the post with free will and without any pressure from any quarters. He claimed that he his resignation on August 2 too was without any pressure.

It may be mentioned that the Speaker had recently rejected the resignations of 13 MPs from Seemandhra region. INN