Centre must consult T govt, says Jaipal

New Delhi: Telangana Congress leader and former Union Minister S Jaipal Reddy said the Andhra Pradesh Reorganization (Amendment) Bill, 2014, is undemocratic, unilateral, unconstitutional and legally not tenable, as the States consultation process was not gone through. It is still not too late for the Centre and it should consult the Telangana Government before bringing the Bill to Rajya Sabha.

Wondering why the Modi Government is showing such haste in pushing through the Bill, Jaipal Reddy charged that the Centre is clearly acting under pressure from TDP.
Raising legal complications involved in it, Jaipal Reddy said it will be struck down in the Supreme Court, if it is challenged. When the Ordinance issue figured in the Union Cabinet on March 2, a day after the Andhra Pradesh Reorganization Act, 2014, was notified, Jaipal Reddy said he had raised the objection in the Union Cabinet meeting that once it has been notified, the process started under Article 3 and 4 had concluded. It was passed in the Lok Sabha on February 18 and in Rajya Sabha on February 20 and after the Presidential Assent it was notified on March 1, bringing to a conclusion the entire process.

“It cannot be open-ended,” he said. If any changes have to be made to the Act, then the entire process under Article 3 and 4 has to be gone through all over and it is not possible to do it through the Ordinance route. For making any changes to the Act, the Telangana Government will have to be consulted. A popularly-elected Government is now in place in Telangana, which cannot be by-passed by the Centre, he said.