Telangana Bill in Lok Sabha today

• BJP insisting on clauses to do justice to Seemandhra
• Govt firm on Bill passage even by voice-vote today
• The Bill will be tabled in Rajya Sabha tomorrow

Cong reaches out to BJP

• Holding confabulations with BJP to allow its passage
• Sonia Gandhi speaks to Venkaiah, seeks cooperation
• Cong Ministers hold talks with Advani, Sushma, Jaitley
• UPA chairperson expected to take part in debate
• Seemandhra MPs, Ministers meet Advani, Rajnath
• They turn down plea to seek lifting of MPs’ suspension
• Govt cagey, not inclined to revoke their suspensions

New Delhi: With barely four days left for the conclusion of the Parliament Session, the Congress-led UPA government has geared itself up for the passage of the Telangana Bill, ignoring the siege laid in the capital by the activists of United Andhra Pradesh. The Congress is determined to bring the Telangana Bill on Tuesday and pass it by a voice-vote, amid the din. The government will introduce the T Bill in Rajya Sabha on Wednesday.

Congress president Sonia Gandhi is expected to participate in the debate on the AP Reorganization Bill-2014 on Tuesday. According to sources, she will explain the circumstances that led the Congress party to take decision endorsing the creation of Telangana State.

She is also likely to take on the political parties which had demanded separate State, but are now singing a different tune. The government is also said to be opposed to revoking of suspension of the 16 Seemandhra MPs lest they should again create disturbance in the House.

The Congress party and the government reached out to the BJP to seek its support in the passage of the Bill. The UPA chairperson on Monday met the BJP senior leader Venkaiah Naidu and asked him to extend their support to the Bill as they had assured the Congress party in the past that they would vote in favour of the Bill if introduced. She spoke to Naidu when she happened to meet him in the Parliament Central Hall. Naidu later told the media that he had clarified the BJP stand to the Congress President.

The principal Opposition party is firm that the Bill could not be passed in the din and all the just demands of Seemandhra had to be met before carving out a separate State of Telangana. The BJP is for Telangana, but wants due justice for Seemandhra. It is also for passing the crucial legislation through discussion and debate, which, at present, looks unlikely, with tempers running high, both inside and outside Parliament.

Notwithstanding the stiff opposition on the Bill, Union Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kamal Nath declared that the Telangana Bill would be tabled in Parliament for its passage on Tuesday. "Those, who want to oppose it, can do so in the democratic process," he remarked. The Congress, by bringing the Bill, wants to expose the double-standards of the BJP, which, according to them, is putting hurdles in their way by insisting that it cannot be rushed through amid the din.

The Congress leaders pointed out that if the BJP had reservations on the Bill, it could always oppose the Bill during its passage or could press for amendments, accusing it of playing a double-game.

Later, Congress political managers, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kamal Nath, Home Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde and Rural Development Minister Jairam Ramesh met the BJP leaders at NDA Working Chairman L K Advani's chamber. Along with Advani, Leaders of Opposition Sushma Swaraj and Arun Jaitley, from the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha, respectively and MVenkaiah Naidu were also present. The talks, apparently, failed thoughneither of the two parties came on record to admit the same.

After the meeting, Advani informed that they had asked the Congress to hold talks with Venkaiah Naidu, who is in the know of the issues related to the bifurcation of the State. Naidu, on the other hand, criticized the Congress for not incorporating the suggestions made by him in the Bill that related to the concerns expressed by the people of Seemandhra region. He said that he had two rounds with the Congress leaders but nothing substantial had emerged in the talks. Another BJP leader Prakash Javadekar blamed the Congress for not coming forward in specifying the amendments that the government wanted to bring. Earlier, Seemandhra union ministers Kavuri Sambasiva Rao, MM Pallam Raju, D Purandeswari and Kotla Surya Prakash Reddy called on BJP senior leaders Advani and party president Rajnath Singh and urged them to speak to the Speaker Miera Kumar to lift the suspension on the Seemandhra MPs.

But, the BJP leaders reportedly asked the ministers to approach the Congress leadership instead of drawing the BJP leadership into the controversy.