Karat backs Jagan on Telangana Bill

Says CPM doesn’t approve of the manner of its introduction

New Delhi: CPM General Secretary Prakash Karat on Sunday extended support to YSRCP suremo Y S Jaganmohan Reddy in resisting the efforts of the Congress-led UPA Government to push through the Telangana Bill without due process.

Karat agreed with Jaganmohan Reddy that the Telangana Bill cannot be pushed through amid the din in Parliament. After the meeting, he said, “We cannot accept the government’s claim that the Telangana Bill was tabled in the Lok Sabha. This was not done. There was trouble in the House and the government took advantage to say that it has tabled the Bill.”

Karat insisted that the Bill should discussed in the House and every member has a right to express his view. “We cannot allow the Bill steamrolled in Parliament,” he said. He clearly said that they would oppose the move of Centre to get the bill approved in an objectionable manner. Jagan said that he requested the support of the leader for keeping Andhra Pradesh united. He said the Bill was introduced in Parliament even though it had been rejected by the State Assembly. He said the introduction of the Bill was undemocratic. “No MP said ‘yes’ or ‘no’ for the same and the process ended in just 10 minutes. We are questioning the same. Karat has promised me to give support for Samaikyandhra.

The time has come for all opposition parties to stand united. If we can’t oppose the same, we are only responsible for bringing one wrong convention”, said Kadapa MP. He said, “something Draconian was happening now. There is no semblance of democratic norms being followed in the entire exercise. In the future, any party with 272 MPs can split a State. This trend should not be encouraged.”