A lot of effort went into the planning to ensure smooth passage of the resolution moved by Chief Minister N. Kiran Kumar Reddy seeking to reject the bifurcation Bill in the Assembly on Thursday.
As the D-day arrived today, legislators belonging to Telangana and Seemandhra regions held closed-door meetings in separate committee halls of the Assembly to discuss the strategy when Speaker takes up the resolution.
Amid fear of trouble and even violence, the Telangana leaders decided against creating ruckus. Deputy CM C. Damodar Rajanarasimha and Panchayat Raj Minister K. Jana Reddy advised them not to get provoked or act in a manner that could give ammunition to the Seemandhra leaders to create hurdles in completion of the bifurcation process. Simultaneously, Seemandhra leaders of the Congress, TDP and the YSR Congress decided that they would not allow a single Telangana MLA to come near the Speaker. “We asked women MLAs to stand close to the Speaker. As we did not want to take any chances, we decided to have six-layer security cover near the podium,” a Minister told The Hindu . Accordingly, when the House was adjourned briefly after paying tributes to Mahatma Gandhi, the MLAs took up positions in the well.
As the quorum bell rang for taking up voting, the Speaker assumed his seat and read out a two-page statement, including the resolution, in less than two minutes. He put the resolution to voice vote even as Telangana legislators made a vain bid to rush to the podium.
TRS MLAs T. Harish Rao, Kaveti Sammaiah and others along with Congress leaders Komatireddy Venkat Reddy, Ch. Lingaiah, Bhiksmahaiah Goud were virtually held back by the Seemandhra members. By the time they wriggled out and tried to jump on the Speaker’s chair, the latter had completed reading the resolution and adjourned the House sine die.
