The Telugu Desam Party (TDP) president N. Chandrababu Naidu has stressed the need for a national debate on the State bifurcation as it pertained to the interests of nine-crore Telugus.
The division of the State was not an “internal affair’’ of any political party.
The Central Government should accordingly keep the ongoing process in abeyance till a broad-based consensus was reached between the stakeholders of the two regions, he said.
The TDP president explained the “undemocratic manner’’ in which the Congress leadership was trying to divide the Telugus, to the BJP’s Prime Ministerial candidate Narendra Modi before attending the Kisan Sammelan at Chandigarh on Sunday. Speaking to reporters in New Delhi later, he criticised the Union Ministers for the manner in which they were going ahead with division of Andhra Pradesh.
The bifurcation process was devoid of any rationale and the Centre was trying to rush through the issue at the behest of Congress president Sonia Gandhi.
The Congress MPs were vehemently opposed to the manner in which the Centre was proceeding and as a result, the Parliament witnessed the unprecedented incidents on Thursday.
Speaker criticisedHe criticised Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar for suspending a section of Seemandhra MPs while sparing MPs from other regions who too were present in the Well of the House. This exposed the partisan manner in which the Chair was acting at the behest of the Congress president.
Mr. Naidu said he explained Mr. Modi the “unilateral manner’’ in which the Congress was trying to rush through the bifurcation Bill setting aside constitutional norms and traditions.
He said he would continue his efforts to convince the leaders of national parties about the need to address the concerns of Seemandhra region before going ahead with the bifurcation of the State.
Meets MulayamThe TDP president met Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav at New Delhi airport this morning and is expected to interact with Janata Dal (United) chief Sharad Yadav late in the evening.
Mr. Chandrababu Naidu’s visit to the national capital comes ahead of the debate on the bifurcation Bill, likely to commence in Lok Sabha on Monday after the passage of the Vote-on-account Budget.
