Govt to fast track parliament legislation to facilitate creation of separate state.
Even as the Andhra Pradesh chief minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy skipped his meeting with the group of ministers (GoM) on Telangana on Thursday, government sources here said they are prioritising the Constitution amendment bill to be tabled in the winter session of Parliament starting from December 5. “The actual bifurcation plan has to be readied before the Bill is drafted. There is no question of delay,” a senior minister involved in the process told dna.
Prime minister Manmohan Singh, who recently ticked off Andhra Pradesh chief minister Kiran Kumar Reddy, told him bluntly that the new state of Telangana will be created latest by February.
The GoM under home minister Sushil Kumar Shinde has been tasked to put in place the bifurcation plan as soon as possible. Other members of the GoM include defence minister A K Antony, finance minister P Chidambaram, petroleum and natural gas minister Veerappa Moily and rural development minister Jairam Ramesh.
The worry in the Congress circles is the attitude of the chief minister, who is opposed to the centre’s decision to bifurcate the state. They believe he is deliberately avoiding to meet the GoM to delay the plan. The GoM has now asked him to be available for the meeting on Nov18.
In the earlier meeting when the GoM interacted with political parties, the Congress representatives — deputy chief minister Damodar Rajanarasimha, representing Telangana, and state minister V Vasant Kumar, who belongs to Seemandhra, — clashed each other in Shinde’s chamber in North Block. They even submitted separate memorandums contradicting each other.
The government plans to draft the Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Bill as soon as possible to table it in the Budget session of Parliament in February. Keeping in view the hiccups and challenges of sharing of resources, it is unlikely the bill will be tabled during the winter session, starting on December 5. This will be the short session with just 12 sittings. The winter session usually begins in the third week of November and goes on until the Christmas, but it has been shortened because of the ongoing Assembly elections in five states to facilitate the MPs and ministers continue with the electioneering.
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