With several Seemandhra legislators yet to get their turn to express views on the A. P Reorganisation Bill in the Assembly and Council owing to disruption of the proceedings, their focus has shifted to ensuring that all those opposing bifurcation submit their ‘affidavits’ in writing to the presiding officers.
While Chief Minister N. Kiran Kumar Reddy and his Seemandhra Cabinet colleagues, barring P. Balaraju and Dokka Manikya Varaprasad submitted their affidavits on Wednesday expressing their opposition to the proposed bifurcation of the State and rejecting the AP Reorganisation Bill-2013.
More than 80 MLAs and over 50 members in the Council expressed their views in the House so far while the session would end on Thursday after a week’s extension. Though the Chief Minister wrote a letter on Tuesday seeking three more weeks to let every member give his/her view on the draft bifurcation Bill, there was no response from the President’s office so far. If the legislature session draws to a close on Thursday itself, the affidavits to be submitted to President through the Speaker and Council Chairman would be equally valid. “They are as good as giving opinion on the floor of the House,” said a senior Seemandhra Congress legislator.
Of the 75 members in the Council, over 40 submitted their affidavits opposing the bifurcation Bill and two to three members were either neutral or would offer conditional support based on amendments proposed. The remaining few members opposed to the Bill would submit their affidavits on Thursday.
Meanwhile, Seemandhra TDP and Congress legislators in both the Houses gave a notice to the presiding officers on last Friday and Saturday seeking to move a resolution rejecting defective bifurcation Bill and return it to the Centre. This was stoutly opposed by the Telangana legislators who demanded the withdrawal of the notice resulting in disruption of both the Houses.
