Andhra Pradesh bifurcation issue rocked both the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha for the third consecutive day on Friday as the MPs from Andhra Pradesh stalled the proceedings.
As soon as the Lok Sabha met, MPs from Andhra Pradesh, cutting across party lines, began shouting slogans for and against creation of Telangana State and entered the well of the House. Similar scenes also took place in the Rajya Sabja too.
Harsha Kumar of the Congress, M Venugopal Reddy of the Telugu Desam Party and M Rajamohan Reddy of the YSR Congress Party served no-confidence notices in the Lok Sabha against the Manmohan Singh government for its decision to carve out Telangana from the united Andhra Pradesh.
Speaking to mediapersons outside Parliament House, Union Home Minister Sushil Kumar Shine said, “Let us see. This is something, which was already promised”. Asked whether the Union Cabinet would clear the Telangana bill in its meeting later in the evening so that it can be brought before Parliament for passage, the Home Minister said in affirmative.
Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kamal Nath said, “Disruption of the Houses over Telangana Bill are not Congress versus other parties. Moreover, the issue is not about Congress MPs. It’s a question of Seemandhra Congress MPs versus TDP MPs, he said and appealed to all members to understand that if the issue was not solved in the 15th Lok Sabha, it will have to be settled in the next Lok Sabha”.
Kamal Nath said even then there will be 17 MPs from Telangana and 25 from Seemandhra and this matter can only be put to rest by Parliament by voice vote because there will always be members from Telangana and Seemandhra. He said, “You can oppose it but opposing is different from obstruction. Disrupting Parliament proceedings weakens democracy and Parliamentary system”. (NSS)
