Bill on Telangana will come during UPA rule: Shinde

The bill for forming the new state of Telangana will be tabled in parliament during the present term of the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government, Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde said Monday.

Shinde, however, said he cannot affirm on whether parliament will pass the legislation.

The bill for creating Telangana out of Andhra Pradesh will be presented before the 2014 Lok Sabha polls, Shinde told reporters at his monthly press conference.

Asked if it will come during the winter session of parliament, Shinde was non-committal.

"It (the bill) will come. It will come before our period ends," he said.

Asked if the bill will be passed during the UPA-II government, Shinde said he cannot say what will happen in parliament.

He said the group of ministers (GoM) looking into the issue will try to finish its work at the earliest.

The home minister said the GoM was looking into several issues, including water distribution and education, related to the proposed division of Andhra Pradesh.

On the stance of Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N. Kiran Kumar Reddy concerning division of the state, Shinde said Reddy had not met him.

"We will see," he said.

Asked if there was a proposal that the central government will retain law and order in Hyderabad for some years, Shinde said no decision has been taken and the issue was being discussed.

About the probe into the serial blasts in Patna ahead of a rally by the Bharatiya Janata Party's Narendra Modi last month, Shinde said "there is no link from the neighbouring country but the matter is under investigation".

On another query, he said the position of the Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) along the border with China "will be as it is".

He said the government was fencing the international border to curb illegal migration from neighbouring countries.

Shinde rejected Goa Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar's criticism of the centre not helping the state to fill vacant Indian Police Service (IPS) posts that had led to problems in effective policing.

Shinde said he had been a chief minister and he did not think that by not getting one or two IPS officers, law and order gets disturbed.

"Local police will have to control law and order," he said.