Former Union Minister and BJP leader Bandaru Dattatreya on Saturday said the by-election verdict in Andhra Pradesh was a slap on the face of ruling Congress and opposition party TDP. Both the parties had an ambivalent attitude on the issue of separate Telangana state. The state Chief Minister K Rosaiah and TDP chief N Chandrababu Naidu never made their stand clear on separate statehood for Telangana, Dattatreya said on Saturday.

The by-election verdict was a clear mandate in favour of Telangana state, he asserted.

The BJP leader said the state governor, who keeps the centre informed about the developments in the state, should send a factual report on the issue of Telangana state as people of the region are clearly in favour of a separate state.

Expressing sorrow over the suicide committed by an engineering student Eshant Reddy for the cause of Telangana, Dattatreya said at least now the Congress leaders, particularly, APCC president D Srinivas, should convince the high command that the people were in favour of a separate state.

In his suicide note, the student had stated that he would sacrifice his life to a local goddess if D Srinivas would lose election in Nizamabad urban constituency. The BJP candidate A Lakshminarayana defeated Srinivas second time.