Stormy session likely today

Hyderabad: The State assembly is likely to witness a stormy session on Wednesday when it would take up the draft T Bill for discussion.

The Seemandhra TDP leaders and YSRCP MLAs announced that they will stall the proceedings and will not allow the debate to take place since there were many inconsistencies in the draft T Bill. The TRS, T TDP and the T Congress leaders urged the Speaker N Manohar not allow such incidents, and, if necessary, suspend them from the house till Friday so that the discussion can take place in a peaceful manner.

Meanwhile, Seemandhra Congress leaders who met the Chief Minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy on Tuesday evening decided that they will participate in the debate. It was decided that the ministers and members from Seemandhra region will clearly express their strong opposition to the draft T Bill to bifurcate the State. Apart from registering their protest, they also propose to submit three copies of an affidavit which would say, “I strongly oppose the move for the formation of the State of Telangana by separation of territory from the existing State of Andhra Pradesh and I further state that this is the view of majority of the members of the legislature.” While one copy of the affidavit would be submitted to the Speaker, the second one would be sent to the President of India and the third one would be filed in a court of law.

The Congress leaders said that when the assembly meets again after the Christmas session they will try to see that the session continues till January 23.

According to one of the ministers, who attended the meeting, Chief Minister assured them that all those who want to speak would be given an opportunity and told them to utilise the occasion to the maximum benefit.

He told them that the Congress legislature party would give them talking points on the Bill. He is understood to have asked them to focus on problems like sharing of water and power that would arise after bifurcation of the State. Some senior leaders have been asked to raise problems of students and employees that would arise if the State was divided. He told them to back their argument with statistics.

Some of the ministers are understood to have suggested that a delegation should meet the President of India during his winter sojourn in the city and submit a memorandum urging him to stall the process of division of the State.