Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister seeks rejection of Telangana bill, Speaker to take final call

Hyderabad: Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy's decision to move a resolution in the state assembly seeking a rejection of the Telangana bill has put a question mark over the legislation's fate.

Speaker N Manohar will today take a call on the resolution, moved two days earlier by Mr Reddy, but it has already raised the political temperature in the state, provoking the Telangana and Seemandhra MLAs to stall the proceedings of the assembly for half-an-hour this morning.

In an abrupt move that stumped the Congress strategists, Mr Reddy had on Saturday invoked Rule 77 while forwarding a resolution stating, "The assembly resolves to request the President not to recommend the AP (Reoganisation) Bill for introduction in Parliament as it seeks to bifurcate the state without any reason/basis."

If the Speaker allows Mr Reddy, who heads the Congress government in the state, to move the resolution, it is likely to get the assembly's nod as the chief minister is certain to receive the backing of a majority of the MLAs from the coastal and Rayalseema regions. This may upset the Centre's plans to seek the passage of the bill in Parliament when it resumes its proceedings on February 5.

The Andhra Pradesh assembly has time till Thursday to finalise its position on the bill. But Mr Reddy's masterstroke, aimed at thwarting the Centre's plans to get the state legislature's seal of approval on the statehood bill and positioning him as the most vociferous champion of the united Andhra cause, has added a new element to the situation.

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The passage of the bill in Parliament during the concluding session of the 15th Lok Sabha is pivotal to the Congress central leadership's strategy of seeking a revival in its fortunes in the Telangana region, which sends 17 members to the House of People. The party is facing a meltdown in the Seemandhra region.

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