Telangana issue: Govt asks all parties to settle issue

Asserting that Telangana is something that has already been promised, the government today asked all parties to settle the issue finally as factions for and against bifurcation of Andhra Pradesh continued disruption of Parliamentary proceedings.

"Let us see. This is something, which is already promised," Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde told reporters outside Parliament.

He was asked whether the Union Cabinet will clear the Telangana bill in its meeting this evening so that it can be brought before Parliament for passage.

Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kamal Nath said disruptions over Telangana are not a Congress versus other parties issue.

"This issue is not about Congress MPs. It's a question of Seemandhra MPs versus TDP MPs. My appeal is to all members is that they have to understand that if the issue is not solved in the 15th Lok Sabha, it will have to be settled in the next.

"Even then there will 17 MPs from Telangana and 25 from Seemandhra. This matter can only be put to rest by Parliament and by vote because there will always be members from Telangana and from Seemandhra. You can oppose it but opposing is different from obstruction. Disrupting Parliament proceedings weakens democracy and Parliamentary system," Nath told reporters.

To a question as to whether the bill is expected to come to Parliament next week, Nath said, "We can always expect."

CPI-M leader Basudev Acharia alleged that the no-confidence motion notice by Congress members shows that the disruptions are happening at the behest of the ruling party itself.

"They (Congress) do not want Parliament to run. They did not want the anti-corruption bills to be passed. Had they been serious about passing the anti-corruption bills, they could have brought it much earlier. We will not allow the passage of any bill in the din without a debate," he said.