Telangana and Seemandhra Congress leaders have begun concerted efforts to fine tune their strategies inside the Assembly when the AP Reorganisation Bill 2013 actually comes up for debate.
Though there was expectation that the discussion would be initiated by the Treasury benches, the uproar inside the House prompted the presiding officer to adjourn the Assembly till Thursday. Leaders from either region continued to deliberate on the line they should take during the debate.
A sense of disappointment has gripped the Seemandhra leaders, who are worried after the draft Bill was tabled in the House and the Telangana leaders claimed that the debate has been initiated after Legislative Affairs Minister D. Sridhar Babu spoke in the House. Redrawing their plans, they now plan to submit affidavits to the Speaker, President and another copy to the Supreme Court in a bid to stop the process of division.
ADVERTISEMENT
The four-page affidavit prepared by them says they strongly oppose the move for formation of Telangana. They also opposed Hyderabad as capital of Telangana and said that Andhra Pradesh could not be bifurcated by the present Bill as it was created under Article 371 D. They reasoned that AP can not be divided unless Article 371 D is amended under Article 368.
They said that the object, subject and provisions of the proposed Bill negate the goals of equity, inclusiveness, public accountability and innovation. They argued that President is not bound by the aid and advice of the Council of Ministers with respect to any issue relating to the AP Reorganisation Bill 2013.
The bifurcation was being carried out in an arbitrary manner without any policy guidelines. Considering unity, integrity and federal character form basic structure of the Constitution, it is a fit case for referring the issue for the opinion of the Supreme Court under Article 143, they said. “The proposed bifurcation was against all established conventions and practices in democratic countries of the world and violates the international conventions on Human Rights where in Right to Democratic decision is valued and cherished.” They plan to garner the support of TDP and YSR Congress MLAs from the region to file similar affidavits.
ADVERTISEMENT
After initially planning to give a letter jointly signed by 118 (barring one MLA) saying they are in favour of division, Telangana leaers now want every member to speak in the House. With the backing of TRS, Telangana TDP, BJP, MIM and CPI, MLAs are likely to object to some provisions like law and order issues being handled by Governor and making Hyderabad common capital with GHMC limits.