With the Chairman of the Legislative Council on Wednesday referring the Andhra Pradesh Administrative Decentralisation and Inclusive Development of All Regions and CRDA Repeal Bills to a select committee, the Capital dilemma for the State lingers on.
After the Bills were passed in the Assembly on Tuesday, Leader of the Opposition in the Council, Yanamala Ramakrishnudu invoked Rule 71 and moved a motion. After an acrimonious debate, Chairman Mohammed Ahmed Shariff referred them to a select committee.
Now what are the options, what will be the composition of the committee and what will happen if the select committee gives a report with a dissenting note. These are the questions agitating the minds of people and political observers.
The committee will comprise a chairman and members from the Council, where the TDP still has good majority.
“The committee will be constituted based on proportionate strength and if that is so, the TDP and others opposing it will have an edge. That is why the Bills should have been referred to a joint select committee, a committee formed by members from the Assembly and the Council, for a fair report. This will delay things,” said YSR Congress Party leader Dadi Veerabhadra Rao.
Agreeing with Mr. Veerabhadra Rao, former Chairman of the Council A. Chakrapani said the entire process would be delayed. “It may be from three months to six months or even more. It all depends on the fallouts and the course of actions,” he said.
A few senior politicians are of the opinion that the Bill could have been introduced as money Bill, instead of an ordinary one. “The Modi government had utilised this provision to bypass the Upper Houser (Rajya Sabha) in the past when they did not have a majority. Since both the CRDA and Decentralisation Bills have money component, they could have been introduced as money Bill,”said Mr. Veerabhadra Rao.
Taking a call on Council
Can the Council be repealed or abolished? It can be done, as establishment or dissolving it is the prerogative of the State government, but a resolution has to be passed by it and it has to be placed before Parliament, said former Vice-Chancellor of Damodaram Sanjivayya National Law University, Y. Satyanarayana.
“Articles 168 and 169 empower Parliament to accept the constitution of the Council or abolishing it, if the Legislative Assembly passes a resolution to that effect by a majority of the total membership of the House,” said Prof. Satyanarayana.
However, though Parliament may not outright veto the resolution, it can reject or accept it, but it has to explain its decision rationally and finally it needs the President’s consent, said president of Forum of Legal Professionals Kuppili Muralidhar.
But right now whether the Council can be abolished or not is a legal issue, as it has recommended the Bills to a select committee, he said.
