Congress enlists Mulayam's support for T Bill

New Delhi: The Congress got a shot in the arm on the Telangana front, just a day after the pepper attack in Lok Sabha. Its hopes of pushing through the controversial AP Reorganisation Bill-2013 are up with the Samajwadi Party of Mulayam Singh Yadav agreeing to let it have its way, despite the party's opposition to smaller states.

According to reliable sources, Congress floor managers got into the act to get the numbers in favour of the government and the Samajwadi Party, which has 22 MPs, has agreed to either back the Congress on the floor of the House or abstain if and when the T- Bill is put to vote.

The other party from Uttar Pradesh, Mayawati's BSP is in any case expected to sail with the Congress and the party is also not opposed to smaller States. Both SP and BSP are extending outside support to the UPA.

Perhaps, the Samajwadi Party's U-turn coupled with BSP support was behind Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kamal Nath's statement the other day that they would pass the T bill with or without the BJP's support.

The ruling UPA is also confident that the BJP, having backed the formation of the Telangana State all along, cannot afford to vote against the bill in which case, the question of division of votes in the Lok Sabha doesn't arise and even if it does, it won't have any value.

Hinting at which way the wind is blowing, Leader of Opposition in the Rajya Sabha and senior BJP leader Arun Jaitley issued a statement, pointing out that 'it is not still too late' to achieve a 'larger consensus' on the Telangana issue.

He suggested a roadmap for the UPA government to build a broad consensus on the State bifurcation issue. 'It is not too late even now for the Congress to address issues related to Seemandhra such as creation of a capital, eventual creation of a separate high court for the new state, compensating for the loss of revenue caused by bifurcation and raising comfort level with regard to water and power,' he said and felt these issues are capable of being resolved.

He further said it was not late even now for the UPA to provide a forum within or outside Parliament for a process of conciliation to begin. This can forthwith lead to the creation of Telangana while addressing the genuine concerns of the people of Seemandhra, he pointed out.

He regretted that the UPA has completely collapsed on dispute resolution and unleashed forces within its own camp which it no longer can control. 'The disturbance is not by Opposition but by UPA's own members.

Government, particularly the PMO and the Home Ministry are completely paralysed,' he said. His party colleague and Goa Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar, however, said the party supports the bill but stressed it should not be at the cost of dividing the people.

Security for Parliament

Speaker Meira Kumar on Friday directed the Joint Parliamentary Committee on Security in Parliament to convene an emergency meeting on Monday to examine all security aspects. The panel may also look into demands for lowering privileges to members.

The Samajwadi Party, which has 22 MPs in the Lok Sabha, has agreed to either abstain from voting on the T bill or sail with the Congress on the same, reliable sources said. This gives the UPA govt more muscle to push through the bill in Parliament.

AP MPs Face Case

A complaint was on Friday filed in a court in Bihar's Muzaffarpur district against 21 MPs from Andhra Pradesh on charge of sedition and other offences. A local advocate Sudhir Kumar Ojha filed the case.