Kiran Brahmastram has been fired: Telangana

The T heat is set to reach a new high from today in New Delhi as TDP President N Chandrababu Naidu and Chief Minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy are leaving for the national capital on the day. They would meet President Pranab Mukherjee, urging him not to rush the T Bill. Meanwhile, T leaders like KCR and Telangana Congress leaders are already in Delhi, meeting leaders of various parties to garner support for the T Bill.

Brahmastram has been fired: Kiran

Resolution has been passed by Assembly, Prez should heed it

• To meet President today or tomorrow
• To urge him to take into account resolution
• Centre should wait till elections are over
• Urges Naidu, Jagan to join him in his efforts

Hyderabad: “The unchallenged resolution passed by the State Assembly rejecting the AP Reorganisation Bill 2013 is the ‘Brahmastram’ (very powerful missile) that has been fired by me to keep the State united,” said Chief Minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy. The Centre should wait till the elections are over to decide on bifurcation, he demanded.

Addressing a media conference here on Sunday, Kiran said the resolution rejecting had sent chill down the spine of all those leaders including TRS president K Chandrasekhar Rao. He asked if the resolution was a foul game and if it had no sanctity, where was the need for all the T leaders including the senior leaders of Assembly and Parliament and those who were considered to be veterans and intellectuals in Indian politics to become jittery.

Taking a dig at some leaders and parties which, he alleged, had been changing their stance on the issue of bifurcation, Kiran said they were more focused and concerned about vote politics and not about the future of the State. “It is only the Seemandhra Congress leaders who have been consistent in their stand – whether one is an MP, MLA or MLC.

Kiran said the argument that the resolution did not have any role or sanctity was unfortunate. “Nowhere a new State was formed after a resolution or bill was rejected by the State Assembly concerned, and no State was formed without the State Assembly passing a resolution seeking bifurcation.”

Even in the case of the three new states formed during the NDA regime, the Centre did not take a unilateral decision. “Never did it happen since Independence,” he said. Referring to the claims by the Telangana leaders that the resolution was equivalent to a white paper, he said if that were so, where was the reason for the AICC general secretary Digvijay Singh and KCR to react within minutes of the passing of the resolution. He reminded that even important Bills like Food Security and Lok Pal bills were passed by voice vote.

The Chief Minister said now the ball was in the court of the President. President would have to honour the opinion of the State Assembly, and only after he was fully satisfied about the need to bifurcate the State, he should send it to Parliament. “The President will have to take into consideration the issues raised in the Assembly and the resolution passed by the legislature.”

When pointed out that the Bill was sent to the Assembly by the President himself, he said, “Legally, the President will now see the Bill. So far, it was sent by the Home Ministry. The Bill is faulty and the Union Home Ministry refused to give details when several leaders wrote letters seeking information which had been sent to the Centre by the Speaker.”

Kiran also found fault with the manner in which the Bill was introduced in the Assembly. He said that in case of Madhya Pradesh the Bill was scrutinised by the Advocate General before it was introduced in the Legislature. Here, when he was unwell, it was rushed through.

Kiran also appealed to TDP president N Chandrababu Naidu and YSRCP president Y S Jaganmohan Reddy to join him in going to Delhi just as they supported him in passing the resolution in the Assembly. “If they do not want to join me,” he said, “they should meet President separately and urge him to see that the State remains united.”

Kiran said polls were just two months away and the Parliament would be meeting for 16 days for the vote-on-account budget, and hence there was no need to hurry with the move to divide the State. Kiran, however, refused to reveal his plan of action. He said he would meet the President on Monday or Tuesday and would explain to him about the need to keep the state united. “Let the people of the State decide in the elections whether they want division or not,” he would thus tell the President,

He also refused to speak anything about his proposed deeksha or his next course of action if the Bill was sent to Parliament. “I never speak in advance, let’s see what happens,” he added,