No bifurcation before polls, says CM

HYDERABAD: Even after the T-Bill has been sent to the Assembly and AICC state affairs incharge Digvijaya Singh reportedly explained the strategy of the AICC high command over sending the bill back to Delhi at the earliest to his party loyalists in Seemandhra, chief minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy is confident that Andhra Pradesh would not be bifurcated before 2014 polls.

He said that Article 371(D) would stand in the way of formation of Telangana state. According to him, without either deleting or amending this Article, it is impossible to bifurcate the state.

In an informal chat with newsmen on the Assembly premises here on Friday, the chief minister pointed out that Article 371 (D) has to be suitably amended before dividing the state. This was clearly indicated in the draft AP State Reorganisation Bill, 2013, he added.

He also felt that there were several flaws in the clauses of the bill. Hence, the bill would not stand legal scrutiny. So, in any case there was no possibility of AP getting bifurcated before 2014 polls, he opined.

Kiran Reddy also told this to his Cabinet colleagues from Seemandhra such as Ganta Srinivasa Rao and TG Venkatesh, who had called on him on Wednesday.

According to sources, Kiran Reddy also told them that he would try to defeat the bill in the Assembly by demanding a discussion and voting on each and every clause in the bill during the debate in the House.

When the Congress MLCs from Telangana had met him in the Legislative Council and requested him to take up the bill for discussion in both the Houses, Kiran Reddy told them that the Business Advisory Committee (BAC) would take a decision as to when the T-Bill would be taken up for debate in both the Houses of the legislature. Probably, the BAC would meet on Monday to decide this, he added.

Kiran Reddy, who is planning to utilise the 40-day time period given by the President to send the T-bill back to Delhi, told mediapersons that it is not easy to circulate the copies of the bill among members of the House, without translating it into Telugu and Urdu languages. Thus, he indicated that the issue will drag on for quite a sometime.

When wanted to know was the 40-day time period, given by President to debate the T-Bill, suffice for debate, he made an interesting remark, saying, 'We can't say this at this juncture.'

Kiran Reddy was also confident that all the Congress members from the Seemandhra region would remain united and none can bring a split among them in their struggle and commitment for keeping the state united.

Earlier in the day, ministers from Telangana region too met the chief minister and requested him to see that the T-Bill is taken up for discussion in the Assembly.