Telangana ministers urge Governor not to prorogue Assembly

The ministers wanted governor to keep state legislative assembly in adjourned mode

A group of ministers from the Telangana region on Tuesday requested Governor ESL Narasimhan not to prorogue the Assembly, a routine matter that has now assumed a partisan colour in the light of the ongoing process for state bifurcation.

The ministers wanted the Governor to keep the state legislative Assembly in the adjourned mode so that it could be convened quickly as and when the President of India sends the proposed draft Bill on the creation of Telangana state, for discussion. If the assembly is not prorogued, the session could be convened in just a three-day notice, according to them.

The move by Telangana leaders comes after local media reported that the Assembly speaker was yet to take a decision on a file sent by the chief minister's office seeking prorogation of the House.

Further, the media interpreted this as an intent by the chief minister to delay the reconvening of the Assembly as part of an effort to stall the bifurcation. The chief minister's office yesterday clarified the government had sought the prorogation only to facilitate the issuance of certain ordinances and there was no political reasons behind the move.  Following these reports, Speaker Nadendla Manohar forwarded the file to the Governor after clearing at his level.

Senior minister K Jana Reddy, who led the delegation, said all they wanted was to convene the House quickly to debate the Bill. Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde had said the draft Bill would be sent to the Assembly before introducing the same during the winter session of Parliament scheduled to begin on December 5.