Doublespeak is not new to political parties and the Bharatiya Janata Party is giving a telling demonstration of it. In Uttar Pradesh, where the state Assembly passed a resolution on Monday divi-ding the state into four, the BJP strongly opposed the move. In Andhra Pradesh, however, it strongly supports the demand for a separate state of Telangana.

The ruling Congress had a field day pointing out the BJP’s inconsistency and accusing the party of speaking in two voices. Denying the charge, BJP former president M. Venkaiah Naidu sought to explain the anomaly by saying that the two cases were very different. Mr Venkaiah Naidu said, “The Telangana demand should be looked at differently; we cannot club the issue with that of UP any more. The demand for Telangana has been there for decades and the BJP as a party discussed the issue several times and formed its policy supporting the state, whereas what Maya-wati did today is constitutionally, legally and ethically very bad.” He said there was no discussion on dividing UP, and Ms Maya-wati has only done it to divert public anger against her five-year rule.

DC