Friday, January 20 2006 15:24 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Hyderabad: Former Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Uma Bharti today (jan 20,2006) called on Telengana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) supremo K Chandrasekhar Rao and supported demands for separate Telengana state.

"It is a just cause and a way to develop the backward region as it happened in Jharkhand, Chhathisgarh and Uttaranchal", she told reporters after calling on Rao at his Jubilee Hills residence.

Bharti, who is here as part of her extended Ram-Roti yatra, said "Many leaders within BJP could not voice their concern on Telengana as they had a tie-up with Telugu Desam, which opposes smaller states, while in BJP, me and A Narendra (also expelled from BJP) used to discuss the Telengana issue".

When asked about their discussion during the luncheon meeting, Bharti said, "We discussed about the Telengana issue and I told him to mount pressure on the UPA."

Bharti is scheduled to address farmers' and weavers' meetings in Telengana as part of her extended Ram-Roti yatra and evaded a direct reply to whether she would float a new party.

Rao said Bharti had extended her support to the cause of Telengana and would address public meetings in the region, to highlight the growing suicides by farmers and weavers.