Prez sends Telangana bill back to Home Ministry

President Pranab Mukherjee is believed to have sent a bill for the creation of Telengana to the Union Home Ministry.

Sources declined to give details of what the President said in forwarding the bill back to the Home Ministry.

Telangana protagonists believe that the President sending the bill back to the government implies that it would go to the Andhra Pradesh assembly for considering it before it either adopts or rejects it.

Rashtrapati Bhavan maintained silence over the issue.

In the recent instances of creation of new states, the parent states were given 40 days time to consider the legislation for creation of the new states.

The President had sought legal opinions as he wanted the bill, which provides for creation of Telangana by bifurcating Andhra Pradesh, to be legally sound before sending it to the state assembly for approval.

Shinde had said yesterday that the legislation has been sent to the President through the Prime Minister and after that it would be sent to the state assembly.

The Andhra Pradesh State Reorganisation Bill has already seen a virtual revolt from the state Congress' own Chief Minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy who had said recently during a public rally that he would not allow Andhra Pradesh to be divided. "We will see how the Bill is passed in Parliament. United Andhra Pradesh is not just a slogan, it's our policy," Reddy had said.