As the uproar over Telangana virtually derailed presentation of the interim Railway Budget in lok Sabha on Wednesday, the Government is bracing up for a tougher, uglier, challenge from Seemandhara MPs when the Bill is introduced in the House, most likely on Thursday.
Parliament will not meet on Friday due to Ravidas Jayanti and since vote on account has to be presented on Monday, the Government will have to act fast if it is firm on passage of the Bill.
With anti-Telangana MPs threatening self-immolation if the Bill is tabled, the Government is not ready to take any chances. Speaker Meira Kumar has instructed security officers to beef up security and ban people from bringing blankets or any inflammable materials into the House. She has reportedly also asked for sand bags and deployment of marshals to deal with any eventuality.
The Government has reason to worry. BJP leaders have conveyed to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh that they would only support the Bill if it was passed after debate. On Wednesday lK Advani, Rajnath Singh, Sushma Swaraj and Arun Jaitley attended a lunch at Singh’s residence where AK Antony, Sushilkumar Shinde, Kapil Sibal and Kamal Nath were also present.
The BJP has obviously fine-tuned its stand on the Bill and won’t support UPA unconditionally. “A discussion on the monumental Bill is a must and it should not be passed while House proceedings are disrupted by supporters or opponents of Telangana,” a senior BJP leader said after the meeting. The leader said that making the Governor responsible for law and order of Hyderabad in a bifurcated Andhra Pradesh would entail Constitutional amendments, requiring support of two-third members present in the House.
The party has set similar conditions for supporting all anti-graft Bills including Whistleblower Bill which Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi was keen on pushing through. If the chaos in lok Sabha on Wednesday is any indication, the Government will find it impossible to run the House unless some MPs are evicted, as during the presentation of the interim Railway Budget MPs opposing the creation of Telangana created a fracas, tore some papers and threw them in the Well.
Fisticuffs between a supporter and opponents of Telangana were averted due to timely intervention by Sharad Yadav (JD-U), Jagdambika Pal (Congress) and Saugata Roy (Trinamool Congress). later, the Prime Minister told members that his “heart bleeds” to see what is happening in the House. “It is sad for democracy that such things are happening after all appeals for calm,” he said.
The Congress, which is facing rebellion from its own Chief Minister Kiran Reddy, was rebuffed by its HRD Minister Pallam Raju when he rejected Singh’s observation on the behavior of MPs in the House. Raju questioned the Government’s hurry to push the Telangana Bill and said the Prime Minister’s disapproval of disruptions in Parliament was not “fair”.
“I do not think it is fair to isolate what is happening today. It has been happening since a long time,” Raju who hails from Seemandhara said. Raju justified the uproar, saying they were expected to put up a “final fight” in lok Sabha against the proposed division. Union Tourism Minister Chiranjeevi, Textile Minister KS Rao, Minister of State for Railways Surya Prakash and Minister for Commerce D Purandeswari were among those who were in the Well of the House, holding posters in favor of a united Andhra Pradesh.
Another Union Minister for HRD Mallipudi Reddy was also seen standing in the aisle. YSR Congress chief and MP Jagan Reddy was seen carrying a poster protesting against the division of the State”. M Jagannath (Cong) and N Sivaprasad (TDP) nearly came to blows as Jagannath, a supporter of Telangana, was angry over Sivaprasad tearing some papers, apparently concerning the Telangana Bill. They were, however, separated by alert MPs.
Congress president Sonia Gandhi and Union Minister for Agriculture Sharad Pawar sat in the front seats and watched the bedlam silently. Some Congress members formed a ring around Sonia to save her from any aggression.