Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Bill paves way for the creation of Telangana as India's 29th state.
President Pranab Mukherjee today gave his assent to the Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Bill that paves way for the creation of Telangana as India's 29th state. He also approved the imposition of President's Rule in Andhra Pradesh.
The union cabinet had recommended the imposition of President's Rule on Friday, nine days after Kiran Kumar Reddy resigned as Andhra Pradesh chief minister in protest against the creation of Telangana.
He quit the post, as well as the Congress party, on February 19 after failing to block the passage of the bill that creates the state by splitting Andhra Pradesh.
Elections to the state assembly are likely to be held along with the Lok Sabha polls, due by May.
It is now almost certain that elections to the Lok Sabha and the assembly will be held under undivided Andhra Pradesh. The Centre has cited practical difficulties in dividing the state before the next round of polls. Union minister Jairam Ramesh, who played a crucial role in getting the Telangana bill passed in Parliament during the concluding session, has argued that the actual bifurcation can take place only after three months of Presidential assent and gazette notification.
The Centre's plans are expected to drive K Chandrasekhar Rao's Telangana Rashtra Samiti, or the TRS, further away from the Congress. The TRS, which spearheaded the campaign for a separate Telangana state, reportedly wants the Congress top brass to name Mr Rao as the first chief minister of the new state. It also wants elections to be held after bifurcating Andhra Pradesh.