Even as the request of the Andhra Pradesh Government to the President for extending the time limit for the debate on State Reorganisation Bill continues to hang fire in New Delhi, the debate on the penultimate day ended amid chaos in the House.
As the members interrupted Chief Minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy’s speech repeatedly and did not allow him to continue his address, Speaker N Manohar late in the evening adjourned the House for the day. Speaker urged the members to cooperate assuring them that he will follow the Constitution and the set procedures but it did not have any impact on the situation.
As Chief Minister’s speech remained inconclusive, the Speaker said that it will continue even tomorrow. The Chief Minister’s assertion that he was opposing the Reorganisation Bill in toto caused uproar in the House and the TRS members rushed to the Podium of the Speaker to interrupt his address.
Even Congress members from Telangana region including senior Minister K Jana Reddy objected to the Chief Minister’s remarks. He wanted to know in what capacity the Chief Minister was making the statement. “Is he speaking as the leader of the House or in his individual capacity”, jana Reddy asked leading to heated exchanges between the two.
The Chief Minister also wanted to know from Telangana members in what respects the region had become backward after merger with Andhra region. He urged the members to listen him fully to understand why he was opposing Congress decision to divide the State. However, members continued to interrupt him. He also referred to the former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi’s stand against the bifurcation of the State.
As per the original schedule the deadline set by the President of India to complete the debate in the State legislature on the State Reorganisation Bill will expire on the midnight of January 23. The State Government as well as the members from Seemandhra region has requested the President to extend the deadline by four weeks as many MlAs were yet to express their opinion.
The request was formally forwarded to the President by the Prime Minister’s office and Pranab Mukherji was likely to take a call on Thursday whether to extend the deadline. If the deadline was extended by more than a week, then it can put the entire process of the formation of Telangana in danger as the Centre will be left with a very narrow period of time to pass the Bill in Parliament session starting from February 5.
Meanwhile, the sit-in protest by the Government employees from Seemandhra regions at Indira Park in Hyderabad was marked by tension and scuffles between the protesters and the police. The police had permitted the protest on the strict conditions that the participants will not try to move towards the State Assembly building or make any provocative speeches.