The draft AP Reorganisation Bill-2013 could not be tabled in the Andhra Pradesh Assembly on Friday as the House was adjourned till Monday after MLAs from either side of the regional divide disrupted the proceedings.
The House was caught in a pandemonium right from the start of the day’s proceedings at 10am as MLAs from Telangana and Seemandhra regions stormed the Speaker’s podium holding placards and raising slogans for and against the bifurcation of the state.
Two adjournments for half-an-hour each did not restore order in the House, resulting in the final adjournment for the day close to 2pm.
The draft Bill was sent to the state government by the President of India on Thursday night. The President, as per Article 3 of the Constitution, sought the views of the Assembly on the bifurcation and gave time till January 23, 2013 for returning it to him.
Official sources in the Legislature pointed out that the Speaker has to take a decision on the tabling of the draft Bill as it was marked “secret.”
MLAs from Telangana were found seething even as their colleagues from Seemandhra appeared upbeat that the draft Bill was not tabled in the House.
Deputy Chief Minister C. Damodara Rajanarasimha reportedly threatened to move a no-confidence motion against Chief Minister N. Kiran Kumar Reddy.
“Kiran is anti-Telangana and he is blocking the Bill at every step. We have lost trust in him,” the Deputy Chief Minister reportedly told a group of Congress MLAs from Telangana in the Assembly lobbies.
He demanded that a meeting of the Congress Legislature Party be convened immediately so that they could express their displeasure over the Chief Minister.
