Jagan meets Akhilesh, seeks support for amending Article 3 of the Constitution

YSR Congress chief Jagan Mohan Reddy on Friday met Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav to seek support for his campaign for amending 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 can still be possible as this is all a mere formality.

After the meeting, Akhilesh said, " I welcome him to Lucknow, as it is his first visit to the state. The Samajwadi Party (SP) has always said it is against the division of any state in India. Netaji has also said the same thing on several occasions,"

"Bifurcation of a state is not a solution to all the problems. There are many examples in front of us when certain issues are still not solved. From UP, Uttaranchal was carved out, but, still there are certain problems, which need to be addressed. And that is the reason SP is against the division of a state," Akhilesh added.

Jagan Reddy, acknowledging the support of Akhilesh Yadav said, "It is very kind of him to extend his support. We had a detailed discussion on the need for the amendment of Article 3 and repercussions it could have, if not amended,"

He expressed concern over the Central Government's decision to bifurcate Andhra Pradesh to form Telangana, and said that anybody in Delhi with 272 seats can divide any state on his whims and fancies, and Andhra would be the precedent to start with.

" He understood our apprehensions and that there is an urgent need for the amendment of Article 3," he added.

Jagan Reddy has earlier met, leaders of DMK, AIADMK, BJP, CPI, CPI (M), JD (U), BJD, Shiv Sena and others to mobilize opinion against the misuse of Article 3 and the way in which Andhra Pradesh is being split without an assembly resolution.