Congress leaders flummoxed over tabling of Telangana Bill

Hyderabad: Telangana Congress leaders like Union Minister P Balram Naik and MP Ponnam Prabhakar exuded confidence that the Cabinet note regarding division of the State would be presented at the cabinet meeting scheduled to be held on September 5.

Talking to media here on Saturday, they said in case by any chance that does not happen then the cabinet note will be presented at the next cabinet meeting that would be held on September 12. They said efforts were on at the central level to put the process on fast track once the Monsoon Session of the Parliament was over.

They said that there was no question of the government or the party going back on the issue of bifurcation of the state. "Division of AP is certain. The Centre has already initiated the process," they added. Meanwhile, some Seemandhra Ministers, Botcha Satyanarayana, Anam Ramanarayana Reddy and Vatti Vasant Kumar held an informal meeting at the residence of Rajya Sabha member KVP Ramachandra Rao here on Saturday and took stock of the developments in Delhi. It is learnt that KVP told them that the Union ministers and Congress MPs from Seemandhra have decided to once again put forward a strong argument before the Antony committee regarding the concerns of their region over the issue of the bifurcation of the state on Tuesday. Rao reportedly told them that in case the party does not listen to their plea, then they would decide their next course of action which includes submitting their resignations.

On the other hand, Vijayawada MP Lagadapati Rajagopal stated at Vijayawada that they would try their best to see that the Bill does not get passed in the Parliament and that the process would not move forward.