Six dissident Congress MPs will meet Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Sushma Swaraj to appeal her not to support Telangana Bill in the ensuing session of Parliament, according to Anakapalle MP Sabbam Hari.
Addressing a press conference here on Sunday, he welcomed the statement of BJP president Rajnath Singh at the party’s national council in Delhi that the Bill had been drafted in a hurry to gain political mileage for Congress by widening differences in the Seemandhra region, and said they would also seek the support of Ms. Swaraj to stall the process.
He said the Congress high command and the UPA leadership should not take it as a ‘prestige issue’ and put on hold their decision to get the Bill adopted in Parliament just before issuance of notification for General Elections.
“Since BJP Prime Ministerial candidate Narendra Modi and senior leader Murli Manohar Joshi have also expressed the opinion that they are in favour of tabling the Bill after formation of new government at the Centre, the AP Reorganisation Bill should not be hurried through,” he said.
Mr. Hari, who recently turned a bitter critic of YSRCP president Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy, said the party led by him had tacit understanding with the Congress to support Telangana. He said he had offered to quit the Lok Sabha membership on three to four occasions but on Mr. Reddy’s request he refrained from it.
To a question, he said Chief Minister N. Kiran Kumar Reddy, as per information received by him, would be seeking extension of January 23 deadline set by President Pranab Mukherjee to convey Assembly’s opinion on the Bill by a month. “It implies that there is no scope for the Bill to get clearance in Parliament. As it is, Congress lacks desired numbers to get it through. With BJP leaders indicating their reservations to accept it in the present form, Telangana formation before expiry of the term of Lok Sabha looks remote,” he remarked.