Senior BJP leader Ch. Vidyasagar Rao on Saturday expressed doubts over the intention of the UPA Government in ensuring the passage of AP Reorganisation Bill in the current session of Parliament.
At a press conference here, he said the Bill was not listed in Lok Sabha’s agenda slated for February 17 when the House would resume its sitting. Since the Bill was introduced, it should have been included in the agenda if the Government was serious in taking up discussion and passing it. He reiterated that the BJP was ready to support and ensure its passage.
He said Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha, Arun Jaitley had gone to the extent of declaring that the party would support any constitutional amendment to see that the Bill was passed by two-thirds majority.
Referring to the unruly scenes witnessed in Lok Sabha during the introduction of the Bill when expelled Congress MP, Lagadapati Rajagopal used pepper spray, he said normally the fight would between members of the ruling party and the opposition. But here an unusual situation prevailed with the members of ruling party fighting among themselves. Condemning the burning of effigies of his party leaders by supporters of TRS, T-JAC and Congress in Telangana region in the wake of Union Minister Kamal Nath’s “provocative statement” against BJP, he said the activists of those parties instead should rush to Delhi and exert pressure so that Bill was listed in the agenda and taken up for discussion.
Accusing the Congress of indulging in false propaganda and blaming the BJP, Mr. Rao said let there be debate and BJP MPs would participate and vote in favour of the Bill.
He alleged that Chief Minister N. Kiran Kumar Reddy was sending thousands of people to Delhi for staging a dharna on February 17 and asked the UPA government not to use it as an excuse on the issue.
He hit out at Congress high command for not taking action against the Chief Minister for his defiant stand on Telangana.
Speaking during the joining of Ch. Bharatsimha Reddy from Qutbullapur in the party, State BJP president G. Kishan Reddy demanded Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar to take up discussion and voting on the Bill. Criticising Seemandhra Congress and TDP MPs, he said Lagadapati Rajagopal and others would not be able to stop creation of Telangana by bringing “poisonous bottle and knives”.
