Speaker urged not to accept amendments

• T MLAs say Assembly not authorised to seek amendments as Bill didn’t originate here
• Expression of views should not be misunderstood as freedom to suggest amendments: Minister c Basavaraj Saraiah

Hyderabad: Unhappy over Speaker N Manhohar asking members of the State Assembly to move amendments to the AP Reorganisation Bill by January 10, the Telangana MLAs, cutting across party lines, on Tuesday appealed to the Speaker not to accept any amendments.

In order to further their point, they have also decided to write to the Speaker on the issue.

This decision was taken at a meeting of the Telangana MLAs in the Assembly chambers of Deputy Chief Minister C Damaodar Rajanarsimha. Congress Whip Anil Kumar has been tasked with the job of collecting signatures of all the MLAs.

Panchayat Raj Minister K Jana Reddy, MLC D Srinvas, BC Welfare Minister B Saraiah, TRS MLAs Etela Rajender, T Harish and K T Rama Rao, TDP MLA E Dayakar Rao and BJP MLA Nagam Janardhan Reddy were among those present at the meeting. These leaders argued that the Assembly was not authorised to suggest any amendments to the Bill since the Bill did not originate here.

Minister Basavaraj Saraiah says that the draft T Bill has been sent by the President seeking the views of the Assembly. Expression of views should not be misunderstood as freedom to suggest amendments and no voting can take place on it.

Congress whip Anil Kumar said any move to seek voting on the Bill would amount to subverting the constitutional objective of the Bill and hence all the Telangana MLAs were opposing it. He said the process of the State bifurcation could not be compared with that of Uttar Pradesh and Bihar.

There the voting was necessary as the proposal to divide the State originated from the respective State Assemblies, he added.