Battle lines drawn over CM's demand on T-bill

Telangana MLAs and ministers on Sunday took note of Chief Minister Kiran Kumar Reddy’s notice to the Assembly Speaker to send back the Telangana bill and urging the President of India not forward the Bill to Parliament, without consulting the Cabinet or even the party legislators.

Ministers and legislators from Telangana region, who met at K Jana Reddy’s residence here on Sunday decided to send a protest letter to the governor, the chairman of the Legislative Council and also to the Speaker against the notice.

“Don’t accept the notice and reject it,” they urged the Speaker.

Information and Technology Minister Ponnala Lakshmaiah said the Congress high command’s decision cannot be revoked by the chief minister.

“If he does not approve it (creation of state) then he should resign,” he said.
Deputy Chief Minister Damodar Rajanarasimha also slammed Kiran Kumar Reddy for his unilateral decision to issue a notice to the Speaker. “It is a conspiracy to sabotage Telangana,” he said.

Meanwhile, Chief Minister Kiran Kumar Reddy is learnt to have urged the Seemandhra MLAs from the Congress to be present by 8 am at the state Assembly on Monday, just in case the Speaker allows division on the official resolution submitted by him.
“The state Assembly has every right to reject the draft bill, who so ever sent it, we are not subservient to any other house,” the chief minister is believed to have told his colleagues who met him at his camp office on Sunday.

On the other hand, Seemandhra MLAs of Telugu Desam Party (TDP), who are willing to vote against the bill, are also gearing up to plunge into voting in its final effort to stall the bill from being introduced in Parliament.

“We will see how the YSRC party will act on the floor of the House. It is the only party that is helping the ruling Congress party to deceive the Seemandhra public by acting as a saviour,” a TDP spokesperson observed.