Seemandhra leaders will not give up easily

Seemandhra leaders will not give up easily
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Highlights

Seemandhra Leaders Will Not Give Up Easily. The state leaders too are upping their ante. It is learnt that the state government is examining the possibility of filing a petition in the Supreme Court. It was seeking legal opinion on the issue and wants to know at what stage it could approach the Supreme Court.

Kavuri, Seelam meet GoM again

No bifurcation without UT status for Hyd

Say they feel insulted whenever they meet high command or GoM

Kotla says he won’t meet them again

Some state ministers feel Centre is in a rush to complete the process

Hyderabad: Adopting a strident attitude, the Seemandhra leaders on Thursday said that the process of bifurcation of the state would not be a smooth affair as the party high command feels. They said if the Centre continues to ignore their pleas and demands they know how to put spokes in the move to divide the state.

Union Ministers J D Seelam and Kavuri Sambasiva Rao who met the GoM on Thursday said that they had made it clear that they would not cooperate with the government if Hyderabad was not accorded UT status. They claimed that they had expressed their unhappiness over the manner in which the GoM and the high command were ignoring their pleas and suggestions.

Seelam said he and other Union Ministers from the region had agreed for bifurcation since they were told that the demand for UT status would be favourably considered.

He said if the GoM’s recommendations went against their demands, they would oppose the draft Bill when it would come before the cabinet and may even resign from the council of ministers.

On the other hand, another Union Minister Kotla Suryaprakash Reddy said that he was thoroughly disappointed with the central leadership and the GoM.

He said they felt insulted whenever they met the high command or the GoM they as no one was ready to listen to their demands. “The Centre is going ahead ignoring the wishes of the people of Seemandhra region,” he said.

Reddy said he had decided that henceforth he would not meet any member of the GoM or any leader from the high command.

Replying to a question, he said contrary to reports, he never demanded merger of Kurnool and Anantapur with Telangana. He, however, said he would not quit the Congress party.

“At the most I will lose one election and I am ready for it. Let’s see what has in store for the people of the region,” he said.

The state leaders too are upping their ante. It is learnt that the state government is examining the possibility of filing a petition in the Supreme Court. It was seeking legal opinion on the issue and wants to know at what stage it could approach the Supreme Court.

The apex court on Wednesday disposed of many petitions opposing bifurcation of the state saying that it was premature. Legal experts say that the government may have to wait till Parliament passes the Bill to bifurcate the state. The state can approach the Supreme Court opposing the cause of action mentioned in the Bill for bifurcation.

Some Seemandhra leaders like Minister T G Venkatesh feel that the state government should recommend to the Governor to dissolve the Assembly. Another Minister Erasu Pratap Reddy feels that the Centre was hurrying with the process.
While dividing three states in the past, the state Assembly was given 45 days time to discuss the draft Bill and send it back to the President. “We fail to understand why it was not following the same methodology in case of Andhra Pradesh. We don’t see any need to hurry with the process,” he said.
Even TDP president N Chandrababu Naidu said that the Centre was unnecessarily rushing with the process. It refuses to follow the set procedure for the division of a state. It does not want to ask the State Assembly to pass a resolution. Even on important issues like Article 371-D the Union Ministers were making contradictory statements, he added.

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