Table Draft T Bill at once, demands TRS

Hyderabad: Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) is gearing up to ensure that the government does not find ways and means to escape from tabling the draft T Bill on Monday.

The party legislature held a meeting on Sunday and decided to insist that the Speaker N Manohar take up discussion on the Bill immediately and see that it was completed during the ongoing winter session if necessary by extending the session by few more days.

At a press conference after the legislature party meeting, TRS president K Chandrasekhar Rao said that TRS leaders and members should be alert and defeat the tactics which Seemandhra MLAs may adopt to avoid a discussion during the current session of the assembly.

He said they need to be careful as even the Chief Minister may try to create hurdles at the BAC meeting and avoid discussion on the draft T Bill. He said if Kiran resorts to such methods it would amount to “dishonouring” the directions of the President of India, Pranab Mukherjee, who had forwarded the Bill to the assembly to seek the opinion of the house.

Rao said that it was the constitutional obligation on part of the Chief Minister to complete the job assigned to him by the constitutional head – the President of India.

The TRS leader further wanted the Speaker to discharge his duties and take up the Bill without any delay by setting aside all the routine business in the Assembly. “There can be nothing more important than this,” he said.

Claiming that the formation of Telangana had reached final stage, KCR said that the legislators were only given opportunity to express their views on the Bill in the Assembly because the Centre has the extraordinary powers to create new States.

The Assembly has no role to play with regard to the Bill. He said the Seemandhra MLAs should remember that Punjab State was created by imposing Presidential rule and without seeking the opinion of the Assembly. As the Parliament is set to adjourn sine die next few days, the TRS leader hoped that the session would be resumed after Christmas and the T Bill would be adopted in that session. Referring to the controversy over Article 371 (D), he said there was no need of constitutional amendment because the ‘D’ provision was inserted by the President under the article. The High Court in the recent verdict said there was no need of amending it.

In a scathing attack on Telugu Desam president N Chandrababu Naidu, the TRS leader said that the former lost his “mental balance” and indulged in cheap politics to garner votes in the Seemandhra region.

KCR suggested Naidu to fight for a good package for Seemandhra state. To a query, the TRS leader said he strongly believed in the BJP’s sincerity on Telangana.