Jagan claims support for his campaign to amend Article 3

YSR Congress chief Jagan Mohan Reddy claims that he has mustered enough support for his campaign for amending the Article 3 of the Constitution.

Article 3 of the Constitution provides the Parliament the sole authority on making a decision on a new state. Other than this the draft bill of the new state to be formed will be sent by the President to the state assembly of the concerned state to seek its approval within a certain time frame. Even if the state assembly rejects the draft bill, the division is still be possible.

Party spokesperson Janak Prasad on Tuesday briefed the media and said, "The developments in Delhi and back home have brought to the fore the inefficiency of the ruling Congress that has mishandled the issue of State bifurcation and 2G spectrum cases which resulted in the adjournment of the House without transacting any business,"

He also said that the state is being split against the wish of 75 % of the population for political reasons

Jagan Reddy met leaders of DMK, AIADMK, BJP, CPI, CPI (M), JD (U), BJD, Shiv Sena, SP and others to mobilize support for not dividing Andhra. .

Accusing TDP chief N Chandrababu Naidu of lack of sincerity and commitment on the issue of bifurcation of Andhra Pradesh, Prasad said, "Of the six MPs only four TDP MPs have given notice for the no confidence motion and the remaining two did not join for whatever reason. When there is a clear division among the MPs, the leader is still silent and did not spell out his stand. He neither withdraws the letter given for division nor does he voice support for a united state. This ambiguity is by design as has been running with the hare and hunting with the hound."

He also alleged that Chief Minister Kiran Kumar Reddy is lacking seriousness on the issue and said, "He is trying to search for reasons at this hour. He should have quit the Party when the CWC had taken the decision to split the State. He should have convened the assembly and passed a resolution against the division of state much earlier."

"While he had 90 MLAs, he told us that there are no numbers to move a no-confidence motion against Kiran Kumar Reddy in the 294-member state assembly. Four out of six TDP MPs have moved no- confidence motion in the Lok Sabha against the UPA government which is ridiculous. Any Party needs to have a stand which should be followed from the leader to grass-root level worker," he added.