Telangana Bill unlikely in Winter Session

• If Assembly rejects draft Bill, Centre may not dare table it
• Parliament approval also unlikely before 2014 election
• Seemandhra Congressdelegation to call on Prez on Oct 23
• Hyderabad developed with tax revenue from all regions

Even as the Union government has speeded up the process for the bifurcation of the state, Congress senior leader and Rajahmundry MP Vundavalli Arun Kumar on Sunday expressed doubts over tabling of the Telangana Bill in parliament in the winter session. At the meet-the-press, organized by AP Journalists Federation (APJF) here on Sunday, he said that the division of the state was a policy decision of the party and it might not reverse it. Nevertheless, the T Bill may not be introduced in the winter session in view of the strong resistance from people of Seemandhra against the division of the state.

He said he would be liberal in extending support to the farmers and the compensation this time would be at least double of the previous compensation. Reacting to the plea of the farmers from mangroves area whose coconut groves were flattened due to the high velocity winds of the cyclonic storm, the Chief Minister said farmers would get Rs 5,000 per acre to plant coconut plants afresh. This would be outside the compensation package, he added.

Earlier addressing the fishermen at Donkur village in Icchapuram mandal, Kiran Kumar Reddy said the state government allotted Rs 40 crore for the welfare of the fishermen community in Srikakulam district. He said the state stood first by producing fish worth Rs 11,000 crore per annum. He said he sanctioned Rs 1 crore for a fish protection centre at Donkur village. Union Minister of state for Information Technology, Ministers Kondru Murali, Ganta Srinivas Rao, former Minister Dharmana Prasad Rao and several MLAs and MLCs accompanied the Chief Minister. On the other hand, if the State Assembly rejected the Telangana draft Bill, the Centre would not dare introduce it in parliament.

He was also sceptical about getting the approval of Telangana Bill in parliament before the 2014 general election. Lauding the Seemandhra people and employees for their relentless struggle against the division in a peaceful way, the Lok Sabha MP said the main reason for opposing the state division was the status of Hyderabad after the bifurcation. The state capital, which has been upgraded as a Metro city, has been developed with the tax money paid by the people of the two regions. Hyderabad was the property of all state people. The recent mass upsurge against bifurcation which had thrown the normal life out of gear in Coastal Andhra and Rayalaseeman had sent a strong signal to the Centre that without addressing the concerns and issues raised by them, the bifurcation process would not go smoothly.

Stating that a 40-member Congress leaders delegation from Seemandhra will be meeting President Pranab Mukherjee on the contentious issue in New Delhi on October 23, Vundavalli said the Seemandhra Congress leaders would continue their struggle to stall the bifurcation of state in different forms. Reiterating that resignations of Seemandhra MPs would not show any impact on the Union government which already fell in minority and survives by the support of non- UPA parties from outside, he said most of the parties in the UPA were not ready to go for early elections in the wake of volatile political situation in the country.