AP Budget session likely to be stormy

The Budget session of the state Legislative Assembly starting Wednesday is expected to be stormy with the Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) deciding to move a no-confidence motion against the Kiran Kumar Reddy government and other Opposition parties gearing up for a showdown on key issues.

Severe power crisis leading to prolonged power cuts, rise in tariff rates, industrial slowdown, depletion of groundwater levels, drinking water shortage and other issues are likely to figure in the session, which begins with the address of the Governor to the joint session of Assembly and Council.

TRS' no-trust motion is stated to be in protest against the Congress government "failure" on various fronts, particularly in carving out a separate statehood for the Telangana region. The party is also of the opinion that such a move will expose the stand taken by various political parties on the Telangana issue.

On the other hand, chief minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy has instructed the officials to provide him with all the necessary information so that he could effectively counter the anticipated onslaught of the Opposition parties.

However, as per the current indications, Opposition leader N Chandrababu Naidu, who is on a marathon 'Mee Kosam' (for your sake) padayatra, is likely to skip the session.

Finance minister Anam Ramnarayan Reddy is expected to present the 2013-14 Budget on March 18. For the first time in the state, a separate Budget would be presented for the agriculture sector.