T Bill: Seemandhra members stall Assembly work

Telangana legislators requested speaker to receive views of members in writing

The Andhra Pradesh (AP) Legislative Assembly was adjourned on Wednesday without taking up debate on the draft AP Reorganisation Bill, 2013, after the members of Seemandhra (coastal Andhra and Rayalaseema) stayed put in the well of the house raising slogans against the bifurcation whenever the Speaker reconvened the session in between short breaks.

The situation is unlikely to be different even tomorrow, said a senior leader from Seemandhra. The members and the parties are hard pressed to demonstrate the strongest possible opposition to the bifurcation at least by stalling the House for the initial few days, according to him.

Apart from stalling the proceedings, Seemandhra members also opened a second front to raise strong objections to the Bill for “lack of comprehensive information” among other things outside the House. A group of legislators from the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) gave a letter to Speaker N Manohar listing out various reservations today.

The letter questioned as to why the copies given to members did not contain objectives and reasons. They asked the government to give financial memorandum, explain the consequences of bifurcation, provide all the details of assets and liabilities, government revenue, more specifically, the revenue collected from the city of Hyderabad, project-wise water allocations, region-wise pension liabilities and data on education and employment opportunities etc.

“Without such information and the time for appropriate study on the AP Reorganisation Bill, it will not be possible for discussion by the members,” the letter said.

The Telangana legislators, on the other hand, requested the Speaker to receive the views of the members in writing as those belonging to Seemandhra have not been allowing the House to function. Even while supporting the bifurcation, they too are expected to file written objections with regard to certain clauses in the draft Bill with the help of the Telangana Joint Action Committee (TJAC) headed by Osmania University professor Kodandaram.

Giving the opinions on the Bill in writing was an idea also mooted by chief minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy on Tuesday though he had asked the members of his party from Seemandhra to give reasons for their opposition to bifurcation through written affidavits. Members of other parties from Seemandhra are also expected to give similar affidavits to the Speaker, according to sources.

The legislators’ opposition, even if they are in majority, is therefore, of no consequence as far as the Centre’s decision on the issue of bifurcation is concerned.

However, the written views by them would guarantee the fulfilment of an obligation to elicit their views in the event of continued disruption of the Assembly proceedings, according to political observers.