State bifurcation bill not consistent with Constitution: AP CM

His observations draw instant and sharp reactions from both, opposition and members of his own party

Chief minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy said on Friday that the Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Bill, 2013, which was sent last month for the views of the state Assembly by President Pranab Mukherjee, was full of flaws and did not even satisfy the constitutional framework.

The drastic remarks against the bifurcation bill by the chief minister came during his third address in the ongoing debate on the bill in the Assembly. His observations drew instant and sharp reactions from the members of the House, including from the members of his own party and the opposition.

Putting the chief minister in a defensive mode, leader of the opposition N Chandrababu Naidu, MIM leader Akbaruddin Owaisi and CPI(M) member J Ranga Reddy among others questioned him as to why he did not say this up-front and sought to return the bill before it was taken up for discussion in the Assembly.

"Why did you waste the time of the Assembly and the members all these days when you think the bill had loopholes?"  they questioned the chief minister.

As if to answer this question, chief minister had  given a notice to the Assembly Speaker seeking to return the bill to President soon after the House was adjourned for the day in the afternoon. A similar notice was given to the chairman of the state Legislative Council by minister C Ramachandraiah, who is the leader of the Council.

The President sent the bill to the state Legislative Assembly on December 11 for sending its views with in six weeks time which ended on January 23. However, the debate continued beyond this deadline as the President extended the time by one more week up to January 30 after the chief minister requested Rashtrapathi Bhawan to give four more weeks to debate the bill.

Making a high pitch speech in the Assembly, Reddy said the bill was sent to the state without even enclosing the statement of objectives and reasons while it was meaningless to discuss the bill without even knowing the basis on which it was mooted. He also pointed out that  the President, in his communication, had termed it as a bill while the secretary of the Ministry of Home Affairs termed it as a draft bill when he had sought for additional information on the subject.

"It only shows that there was no clarity on several aspects of the ongoing exercise within the government at the Centre. Everybody has to act within the framework of the Constitution and not otherwise," chief minister said  though he later clarified that it was the mistake of the Home Ministry official to call the bill as a draft bill.

 
As being a Congress chief minister, Reddy's continued rhetoric against  the decision of the Congress leadership for favouring the state's division and criticising the manner in which the issue was handled by the UPA Government has been interpreted in many ways.

Interestingly, Reddy also stated during his address that he had told the Congress leadership at the beginning itself that he can not stay as chief minister if the state is going to be divided as it causes more pain to him than the death of his father.

The chief minister's action of asking the Speaker to return the bill comes at the fag-end of the debate as the extension of the time given by President is just  five days away. The chief minister's latest move was  also not consistent with his earlier decision where he requested the President to give four more weeks to discuss the bill in the Assembly.

Meanwhile, the members of TRS and other political parties from Telangana region accused Kiran Kumar Reddy of acting in unconstitutional manner on the issue of AP Reorganisation Bill.  It is not yet clear what decision Speaker, N Manohar, is going to take on the chief minister's notice.

Earlier this week Reddy excused himself from going to Delhi when he was asked to attend a party meeting to discuss about Rajya Sabha candidates stating that he was busy with the Assembly debate on bifurcation bill.