Chief Minister N. Kiran Kumar Reddy and Leader of Opposition N. Chandrababu Naidu were conspicuous by their absence at the Business Advisory Committee ( BAC) meeting convened to resolve the logjam in the Assembly over the initiation of debate on draft Telangana Bill.
As the debate on the T Bill continued to remain a non-starter with the YSRCP and Seemandhra TDP members disrupting the proceedings in the Assembly leading to the continued adjournment of the House, Speaker Nadendla Manohar convened the BAC meeting in an effort to break the deadlock and help the debate to commence.
Though the Chief Minister and Leader of the Opposition were present in their respective chambers in the Assembly, for reasons best known to them, skipped the meeting triggering of protests and criticism from Telangana members of all parties.
The YSRCP members made it clear that they would not allow the debate to commence in the House unless a resolution for keeping the State united first tabled. The TDP members from the Seemandhra region, on their part, said they would cooperate if the Chief Minister places before the House the 20 lacunae identified by the government in the T draft Bill.
Minister for Legislative Affairs S. Shailajanath, a known integrationist, held discussions with TDP member Payyavula Keshav, a strong votary of Samaikyandhra and sought cooperation in enabling the T Bill debate to start. However, the TDP member is understood to have assured the party’s cooperation only if the government placed in the House the lacunae identified in the Bill.
Meanwhile, with no sign of both Chief Minister and Leader of Opposition attending the BAC in his chamber, the Speaker began the meeting with representatives of all parties. The Congress was represented at the meeting by Deputy Chief Minister Damodar Rajanarasimha, Ministers Shailajanth, Anam Ramanarayan Reddy, Raghuveera Reddy, Chief Whip G. Venkataramaand and Whip Dronamraju Srinivas. On behalf of the TDP Erraballi Dayakar Rao, M. Narasimhulu, Ashok Gajapathi Raju, Dhulipala Narendra, Payyavula Keshav and Gali Muddu Krishnama Naidu attended. Etela Rajender and T. Harish Rao represented the TRS. The others who attended the meeting were:
Akbaruddin Owaisi (MIM), Julakanti Ranga Reddy (CPM), Jayaprakash Narayan (LS), Laxminarayana (BJP) and Y.S. Vijayamma and Shobha Nagi Reddy (YSRCP).
As soon as the meeting commenced MIM floor leader Akbaruddin Owaisi is understood to have questioned whether the debate on the T Bill had commenced in the House or not as contradictory claims were being made in this regard. The Speaker is understood to have urged that instead of going into the merits and demerits of controversy it would be advisable to deliberate as to how best the deadlock in the House could be resolved.
During the course of the discussions, the YSRCP members are stated to have reiterated their demand that the debate could commence in the House only after a resolution was adopted to keep the State united. At this stage, the TRS members are stated to have reminded the Speaker that in the past when the members had persisted for a resolution and stalled the proceedings, they were suspended. Hence, they said similar action should be taken to enable the House to conduct its business.over three hours, the Speaker postponed the meeting to resume again at 2 p.m. (NSS).