Andhra assembly session till Dec 20

The winter session of the Andhra Pradesh legislative assembly, which begins Thursday, will continue till Dec 20.

The Business Advisory Committee (BAC) meeting chaired by Speaker Nadendla Manohar Wednesday evening, decided that the session will have seven working days.

As the bill for formation of a separate Telangana state has still not been received from the president, the BAC decided to meet again after the bill reaches the assembly, to take a decision about the debate.

The YSR Congress party demanded that the house pass a resolution to urge the central government to keep the state united.

Legislative Affairs Minister D. Sridharbabu, however, said the assembly would only take up the bill for bifurcation of the state.

On the first day, the assembly will pay tributes to former South African president Nelson Mandela.

The BAC also decided to have discussions on recent cyclones, scheduled caste and scheduled tribes sub-plan.

Chief Minister N. Kiran Kumar Reddy and Leader of Opposition N. Chandrababu Naidu did not attend the meeting.

Deputy Chief Minister Damodar Rajanarasimha, Deputy Speaker Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka, government chief whip G. Venkatramna Reddy and leaders of all parties attended the meeting.

Earlier, leaders from Telangana held a meeting. The deputy chief minister, chief whip and Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) leaders attended the meet. They also met Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen leader Akbaruddin Owaisi and sought the party's support for Telangana bill.

Leaders of Telugu Desam Party (TDP) from Telangana said all legislators from Telangana irrespective of their party affiliations would support the bill. TDP leader E. Dayakar Rao said Chief Minister Reddy should take the responsibility of passing the bill.