Andhra assembly session from Thursday, to take up Telangana bill

Cooperation from all parties has been sought for a smooth conduct of the proceedings

The winter session of Andhra Pradesh legislature will commence Thursday, during which the bill for formation of Telangana will come up for discussion.

The assembly and the council will meet from Thursday as per the decision taken by the state cabinet last week. The decision was taken before the union cabinet at its meeting Dec 5 approved draft Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Bill 2013.

Legislative Affairs Minister D Sridhar Babu told reporters that Telangana bill would come up for debate during the session. He sought cooperation of all parties for a smooth conduct of the proceedings.

After passing the draft bill, the centre sent it to President Pranab Mukherjee with a request it to refer it to state assembly under Article 3 of the Constitution. The president may send the bill to the assembly Monday or Tuesday and ask it to return the same with its comments in a prescribed time.

Though the debate on the bill is a mere formality, ruling Congress party legislators from Seemandhra (Rayalaseema and coastal Andhra) have already declared that they would press for voting. They are seeking support of other parties for the same.

The session is likely to be a stormy affair as Chief Minister N. Kiran Kumar Reddy has publicly stated that the bill would be defeated in the assembly.

The chief minister's open revolt against Congress leadership has drawn ire of party legislators from Telangana and other parties from the region. They are opposed to voting on the bill as the assembly is supposed to give only opinion.

Any voting will lead to the defeat of the bill as Telangana has 119 legislators in 294-member assembly. Sridhar Babu, who hails from Telangana, said the house would only express its views as prescribed by the Constitution.

Political analysts say in a charged atmosphere in the house, speaker Nadendla Manohar will have a crucial role to play. If the bill reaches the assembly by Wednesday, the Business Advisory Committee (BAC) at its meeting the same day will decide the number of days for the debate.

The speaker will also be holding a meeting with police officials to ensure fool-proof security for the session.

The police will make elaborate security arrangements in and around the assembly to keep both pro-Telangana and anti-Telangana groups away from the building.

Few groups opposing the bifurcation have already threatened to lay siege to the assembly during the debate on the bill.