In a clear indication that the Centre was further expediting the process of formation of Telangana State, Governor ESl Narasimhan’s third consecutive day in the national Capital ended with meeting the Group of Ministers (GoM) set up to deal with the nitty-gritty of the Telangana issue.
Narasimhan also met Congress president Sonia Gandhi suggesting that the Congress leadership had made up its mind to rely more on the Governor than Chief Minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy to take the process to the logical conclusion.
The Governor also met the Union Home Secretary Anil Goswamy as the Secretaries of various departments of the Central Government met in New Delhi. The meeting was chaired by the Union Home Secretary, discussed the issues related to bifurcation of Andhra Pradesh.
Amid the strong speculations that the Congress leadership wanted to get the Telangana State Bill passed by December 9, the birthday of Congress president Sonia Gandhi, Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde said that the GoM will submit its report before the Winter Session of Parliament, starting from December 5.
Sources said the Centre was planning to send the draft Telangana Bill to Andhra Pradesh Assembly for its views in November. It was likely to ask the State Assembly to complete the process with in a set time frame to ensure that it does not resort to dillydallying.
Meanwhile, senior Congress leader from Telangana and Rajya Sabha member V Hanumantha Rao said that if the Telangana Bill was presented before the Andhra Pradesh Assembly, it will be defeated as majority of the members of Assembly were against Telangana State. But Parliament will pass the Bill as both the Congress and the BJP were in favour of it.