YSR Congress Party leaders and activists took to the street to celebrate the rejection of the AP Reorganisation Bill in the State Assembly on Thursday. They were seen bursting crackers and distributing sweets to the passersby.
According to them, the rejection of the Bill based on the resolution that was moved by Chief Minister N. Kiran Kumar Reddy, was a moral victory for the party.
Addressing a press conference, Vijayawada Central constituency in-charge P. Gowtham Reddy observed that it was YSR Congress President Y.S. Jaganmohan Reddy who was vehemently opposing the draft bill from the very beginning.
“It was only later that Mr.Kiran Kumar Reddy and TDP President N. Chandrababu Naidu, had come forward opposing it,” he said.
He also pointed out that the President of India Pranab Mukherjee will now have problem sending the Bill to Parliament.
According to Mr. Gowtham Reddy, the opinion, that as per Article 3, the President can send the Bill to Parliament even without the consent of the State Assembly was wrong and misinterpreted. “There is a clause in Article 3 stating that ‘expression of views’ have to be obtained from the Assembly by the President. If at all the consent of the Assembly can be ignored, then why call for expression of views. He is actually in a delicate situation now,” he added.
YSRC city convenor Jaleel Khan said that even in Parliament the Bill will be defeated. “Mr. Jagan has gained considerable support by conducting a whirlwind tour meeting top leaders such as Mamata Banerjee of Trinamool Congress and Akhilesh Yadav of Samajwadi Party. This will definitely have an impact in Parliament,” he said.
Vijayawada East Constituency in-charge Vangaveeti Radha said that the draft Bill coming from the President to the Assembly for discussion was undemocratic.
“How can a bill be drafted without the consent of the people and the stakeholders concerned?”, he asked.
YSRC Machilipatnam Constituency Coordinator K. Vidhya Sagar termed rejection of ‘T’ Bill as success of the YSR Congress.
