Agencies, New Delhi :
A meeting of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Bharatiya Janata Party leaders could not make a breakthrough as the Telangana bill was not taken up in Rajya Sabha on Wednesday. There was no consensus on amendments to be moved over the Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Bill in the meeting, TV channels reported.
Former chief minister of Andhra Pradesh Kiran Kumar Reddy gestures as he announces his resignation during a press conference at his official residence in Hyderabad. (AFP photo)
The Telangana bill, which was passed in the Lok Sabha on Tuesday, will have to go back to the Lower House if any amendment on the legislation is passed in the Upper House. The BJP on Tuesday said it would move an amendment in the bill that seeks to bifurcate Andhra Pradesh into Telangana and Seemandhra.
Parliament witnessed another day of chaos with both Houses being repeatedly adjourned on Wednesday amid ugly scenes in Rajya Sabha over the creation on Telangana. Telugu Desam Party (TDP) MPs gathered in the Well of the Rajya Sabha with banners for a united Andhra. The RS was adjourned till 5pm after the street vendors bill was passed in the House. Rajya Sabha was disrupted and adjourned till 2pm earlier as members opposing the formation of Telangana trooped near the chairman’s chair soon after it reconvened. A Telugu Desam Party legislator snatched a paper from Rajya Sabha secretary general Shumsher K Sheriff’s hands who was reading a message from Lok Sabha.
Deputy chairman PJ Kurien adjourned the House amid the chaos. It was earlier adjourned till 12pm over the same issue.
Lok Sabha too was adjourned twice – once till 2pm following uproar over the issue of SC/ST reservation and earlier till 12pm.
In Lok Sabha, as soon as the proceedings began, BJP members vociferously protested the disruption of the live telecast of the proceedings when the House was debating the Telangana bill.
BJP member Shahnawaz Hussain said the country could not witness the debate on Telangana on TV as the government allegedly did not allow to the live telecast.
Other BJP members joined Hussain in the protest and demanded action against those who were responsible for it.
CEO of Lok Sabha TV Rajiv Mishra on Tuesday had said that the channel could not telecast live proceedings because of a technical problem. DMK members led by TR Baalu and Samajwadi Party members too protested near the Well but could not be heard in the din.
Amid noisy scenes, speaker Meira Kumar adjourned the House till noon. In Rajya Sabha, TDP and the Congress member opposed to division of Andhra Pradesh trooped into the Well as soon as the House met for the day. Samajwadi Party MPs wanted to take up a resolution condemning black out of proceedings of Lok Sabha during the passage the controversial Telangana bill. “Please adhere to procedure. Please do not discuss the other House here,” chairman Hamid Ansari ruled.
This led to an argument between YS Chowdary (TDP), who was standing right below the podium, and Ansari.
Ansari then adjourned the House till noon.
Andhra Pradesh chief minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy on Wednesday submitted his resignation to governor ESL Narasimhan to protest the UPA government’s decision to bifurcate the state.
In a media conference at his camp office, just before submitting his resignation at the Raj Bhavan, Reddy lashed out at the Congress party for flouting all parliamentary procedures while bringing and passing the Telangana bill in Lok Sabha. “I am ashamed. They did it like thieves, cutting the live telecast. What was the need to do it like this?” Reddy questioned. “I can’t continue in Congress. I thank them for making me the CM. But, they betrayed the Telugu people,” Reddy told reporters.
He also said that he is also resigning from the post of MLA as well as the membership of the Congress party.
He added that his future is not important and he would have stayed in Congress and followed their diktats if he had wanted to save his future. The Telangana bill was passed in Lok Sabha on Tuesday with the BJP coming in support of the UPA to clear the Andhra Pradesh State Re-organisation Bill amid din.
Reddy accused the Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) of coming together in a clandestine agreement to divide the state. He even questioned the way the state was divided in absence of MPs from Andhra Pradesh. Reddy blamed all the parties – Congress, Telegu Desam Party, BJP and YSR Congress Party – for the state’s division.
However, there was no word on the new party said to be launched by Reddy. He was accompanied by several Seemandhra ministers and legislators in the press conference.
Reddy is said to have rejected the governor’s suggestion to continue as the interim chief minister. The state is now headed for the President’s rule. Andhra Pradesh assembly elections are to be held along with the general elections this summer. HT was the first to report on February 16 that Reddy had made up his mind to step down from the post.
“The game is not over till the last ball is bowled” had been Reddy’s refrain till now but the passage of the Telangana bill sealed his fate.
The names of state cabinet ministers Kanna Lakshmi Narayana, Ramanarayana Reddy and Raghuveera Reddy are doing rounds as his possible successor. He added that his future is not important and he would have stayed in Congress and followed their diktats if he had wanted to save his future. The Telangana bill was passed in Lok Sabha on Tuesday with the BJP coming in support of the UPA to clear the Andhra Pradesh State Re-organisation Bill amid din. Reddy accused the Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) of coming together in a clandestine agreement to divide the state. He even questioned the way the state was divided in absence of MPs from Andhra Pradesh. Reddy blamed all the parties – Congress, Telegu Desam Party, BJP and YSR Congress Party – for the state’s division.
However, there was no word on the new party said to be launched by Reddy. He was accompanied by several Seemandhra ministers and legislators in the press conference.
Reddy is said to have rejected the governor’s suggestion to continue as the interim chief minister. The state is now headed for the President’s rule. Andhra Pradesh assembly elections are to be held along with the general elections this summer. HT was the first to report on February 16 that Reddy had made up his mind to step down from the post.
“The game is not over till the last ball is bowled” had been Reddy’s refrain till now but the passage of the Telangana bill sealed his fate.
The names of state cabinet ministers Kanna Lakshmi Narayana, Ramanarayana Reddy and Raghuveera Reddy are doing rounds as his possible successor.
Ministers Erasu Prathap Reddy, Ghanta Srinivasa Rao and TG Venkatesh resigned on Tuesday, while others, including Dokka Manikya Prasada Rao and Kondru Murali declared that they were loyal Congress soldiers.
“The CM is only capable of addressing press conferences, not forming a party,” said Rao, a minister from Seemandhra.
The Congress leadership had recently issued a stern warning to Reddy to “fall in line” or “face consequences” if he continued to create problems for the party on Telangana.
