KCR writes to president against Telangana restructuring ordinance

TRS chief K. Chandrasekhara Rao Thursday wrote to President Pranab Mukherjee protesting the promulgation of an ordinance by the BJP government purportedly to "alter" the boundaries of the new state.

Contending that the addition of mandals, villages and hamlets to Andhra Pradesh can only be done by parliament under article 3 of the constitution, the Telangana Rashtriya Samiti chief, who is set to take over as chief minister of Telangana when it comes into being June 2, said the "executive can not usurp the powers of parliament".

KCR, as Rao is popularly known, also opined that the president can promulgate an ordinance only when parliament is in recess and that the next session of parliament "is about to be convened within a week".

"There should be circumstances which render it necessary for the president to take immediate action: in this case, there are no extraordinary circumstances that have emerged all of a sudden. The same circumstances that existed when Parliament considered the AP Reorganization Bill during February 2014 did not alter to warrant the consideration of the president," he said in the letter.

KCR, whose party had called for a Telangana shutdown on this issue Thursday, added that the Polavaram project should be "redesigned" as it will "facilitate inundation of hundreds of tribal villages" in its present form.

The ordinance seeks to merge seven mandals, 136 villages and 211 hamlets of Khammam district in Telangana with Andhra Pradesh as they are supposed to be affected by the Polavaram multi-purpose irrigation project.