Andhra Pradesh legislature got six more days to debate Telangana bill as President Pranab Mukherjee Thursday extended, till Jan 30, the deadline for sending its opinion.
Legislature Secretary Raja Sadaram read out in the Andhra assembly the letter of the president, allowing another week to debate Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Bill 2013.
The deadline for the legislature to send back the bill to the president with its opinion was ending Thursday and the state government had sought time till Feb 20.
After the president's letter reached the legislature, the Business Advisory Committee (BAC) of the state assembly held a meeting to decide as to how to utilize the extended time. The meeting, chaired by assembly Speaker Nadendla Manohar, decided to have debate on all remaining days, except the Republic Day.
However, there was no consensus during the meeting on conducting voting on the bill. Legislators from Telangana are opposing the demand of their counterparts from Seemandhra (Rayalaseema and coastal Andhra) for voting on the bill.
Chief Minister N. Kiran Kumar Reddy, who began his speech Wednesday evening, resumed it in the afternoon after the speaker allowed legislators from various parties to express their views. There was ruckus in the house when Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) took exception to certain remarks made by the chief minister about the development in Telangana.
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The speaker adjourned the house for 10 minutes and after the BAC meeting, he adjourned it for the day.
State minister from Telangana K. Jana Reddy said the extension given by the president would have no impact on the process for formation of separate Telangana state.
Andhra Chief Secretary P. K. Mohanty had last week sent a letter to union home ministry, seeking extension of the time by four weeks on the ground that the time given till Jan 23 was not sufficient to complete the debate.
The ministry had also summoned Mohanty and other officials to the national capital to know about the status of the debate.
According to official sources, the state government had conveyed that the bill has been debated by the assembly only for a few days and many of the legislators were yet to speak on it and hence extension of the deadline was required.
The president is believed to have given extension of a week on the recommendation of the ministry.
The president on Dec 12 had referred to the legislature the bill under article 3 of the constitution for its opinion. The same was introduced in both the houses on Dec 16 amid ruckus. The bill, however, could not be taken up for debate for several days due to protests by legislators from Seemandhra.
The United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government is expected to introduce the bill in parliament in the coming session beginning Feb 5.
The union cabinet had on Dec 5 given the go-ahead for the creation of a 10-district Telangana and outlined the blueprint for carving out the country's 29th state.
Telangana will comprise 10 districts and the rest of Andhra Pradesh will consist of 13 districts. Hyderabad will remain the common capital for both the states for a period not exceeding 10 years.