The second round of the state legislative Assembly session will begin on Friday for debating the AP Reorganisation Bill, 2013 amid fresh tensions arising after chief minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy stripped D Sridhar Babu, who hails from Telangana, of his legislative affairs portfolio.
Though the Assembly began on December 12, it so far failed to begin the debate on the Bill after the President of India referred it to the state legislature for its views as members of both the regions stalled the proceedings.
Political observers say the situation would be no different when the House starts tomorrow as the members of the Telangana region are expected to question the chief minister's decision of portfolio rejig . "We may witness angry scenes till the Business Advisory Committee sits to finalise a plan to start the debate on the Bill," said a senior official of the Assembly.
Some say the chief minister had effected the portfolio rejig with an intention to bring the situation firmly under his control on the floor of the House. According to them, the chief minister is expected to get the Bill formally introduced for debate through the new legislative affairs minister and may also get a resolution moved against the state bifurcation during the course of debate.
Opposition parties alleged the portfolio rejig was a diversion tactic. However, a close aide of Sridhar Babu told Business Standard that the minister was hurt and that was the reason he addressed the resignation letter to the chief minister directly. However, he was persuaded not to resign by his ministerial colleagues as well as AICC secretary R C Kunthia, who rushed to Hyderabad from Delhi today.
