Telangana Bill to be sent for President's nod next week

The Telangana Bill, passed by Parliament last week, is likely to go to President Pranab Mukherjee next week for his approval, Union Minister Jairam Ramesh said today.
"The Bill has been vetted by the Law Ministry... It is likely to go to the President early next week. We hope that sometime next week the President will give his approval," Ramesh, a key member of the Group of Ministers (GoM) on Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation issue, told reporters here.
The day President gives his approval to the Bill is called the 'notified date' and the day two Chief Ministers are appointed is called the 'appointed day', he said.

The Congress leader recalled that the appointed day came three months after the notified date in case of Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand and Uttarakhand, created in 2000.
The 'appointed day' for formation of Telangana will be so fixed to enable the satisfactory completion of preparatory work relating to division of assets and liabilities, he said.
"Prime Minister has said the 'appointed day' for the formation of the new state will be so fixed in relation to the notified date so as to enable preparatory work for division of personnel, division of assets and liabilities and other preparatory work," he said.

Noting that there is an impression that Congress has pushed the Bill through with an eye on upcoming elections, he asserted that it is far from true and pointed out that the Telangana demand had been there for the last about 60 years.

Congress will honour its commitment to separate Telangana, but not at the cost of Seemandhra, he said.
Ramesh dismissed allegation that the Bill is "unconstitutional".