Unfazed by Legislature Rejection; Centre speeding up Telangana formation by Feb. end

The Congress-led Central government is not only unfazed by the setback following rejection of the A. P. Reorganization Bill- 2013 by the Andhra Pradesh Legislature but also seemed determined to move forward and carve out a separate Telangana State by February end.
This is amply evident from the manner in which the Central administration has stepped up the process for creation of the new State after the all-important Congress Core Committee put its stamp of approval to speed up Telangana formation.
The Congress Core Committee met at the residence of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh this morning which was attended among others by Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi, P. Chidambaram, A.K. Antony and Ghulam Nabi Azad. Apart from the issue of change guard in Chattisgarh, the crucial Telangana affair also was deliberated at the meeting.
Informed sources said the Congress Core Committee had thoroughly discussed about the pros and cons of the T Bill being returned back to the President of India by the State legislature. Since the Bill was sent as per the provisions of Article 3 of the Constitution, it was felt that the State legislature’s action and also opinions would not have any bearing in the Telangana state formation. The meeting felt that the process should be completed at the earliest by introducing the Bill in the ensuing session of Parliament.
Keeping in view the biennial elections to the Rajya Sabha, the Congress Core Committee also felt that necessary steps should be taken to ensure that all the three Congress nominees sail through without any hitch from Andhra Pradesh. The party Central leadership did not want to leave anything to chance what with the presence of two rebels in the field banking on crossing voting by Seemandhra MLAs.
Meanwhile, the Group of Ministers (GoM) headed by Union Home Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde, is bracing itself for discussing and finalizing the Telangana Bill at its scheduled meeting on February 4. The Bill then would be forwarded to the President and then to the Union Cabinet for clearance before being sent to Parliament.
Speaking to the media at a book release function, the Union Home Minister reiterated that the Telangana Bill would be introduced in Parliament during the ensuing session as scheduled. He did not see any legal or Constitutional hurdle coming in the way of the Bill’s introducing in Parliament which is being done as per the provisions of Article 3.
The AICC General Secretary in-charge of party affairs in AP, Digvijay Singh, in a separate interaction with the media said the Congress was committed for the formation of Telangana State and there was no going back on it. All the concerns and demands of the people of Seemandhra would be addressed to with sincerity. “It is wrong to state that we are not bothered about the concerns of the people of the region”, he observed.
Digvijay Singh also reiterated that all steps would be taken for ensuring safety and security of the Seemandhra people living in Hyderabad. Their concerns in the matter of education and employment opportunities would also be resolved to their satisfaction, he added. (NSS)