No hurdle in creation of Telangana state: Shinde
New Delhi: Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde on Friday made it clear that there will be no hurdle in creation of Telangana during the tenure of UPA-II and the statehood bill will be passed in the coming session of Parliament beginning on February 5.
“The bill will be passed. There will be no problem,” he told reporters here when asked about the fate of Telangana in the wake of Andhra Pradesh legislature’s rejection of the proposed legislation.
The Home Minister’s statement came a day after Andhra Pradesh Assembly rejected the Telangana Bill by voice vote, capping days of acrimonious drama and embarrassing Congress, which favoured creation of the separate state.
Experts are of the opinion that whatever the Assembly did, Parliament can go ahead with its legislative process for creation of the new state.
The Parliament session commences on February 5 and is scheduled to conclude on February 21. This will be the last session before the tenure of the UPA-II comes to an end.
The GoM, set up to look into the bifurcation of Andhra Pradesh, is likely to meet on February 4 to articulate the government’s view for recommending to President Pranab Mukherjee the next course of action.
Meanwhile, the Home Ministry has written to the Prime Minister’s Office rejecting the contention of Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy that the bill is “not comprehensive”.
The Ministry is also contemplating approaching Parliament seeking a date to table the bill, an official said.
This is apparently for the first time the Central government is going ahead with bifurcation of a state despite the state Assembly rejecting the move.
The Assemblies of Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and Madhya Pradesh had passed resolutions in favour of creation of Uttarakhand, Jharkhand and Chhattisgarh some 14 years ago.
