 "Cabinet clears Telangana Bill")
The controversial Telangana Bill got a go-ahead from the Union cabinet on Friday, even as the issue continued to derail the winter session of Parliament.
The government is expected to introduce it in this final session before the 2014 Lok Sabha polls, paving the way for creation of a new state.
Despite strong demands from the non-Telangana regions to confer Union Territory status on Hyderabad if bifurcation was being approved, the cabinet did not. In line with the earlier decision, Hyderabad will be a shared capital for 10 years, after which it will belong to the state of Telangana. This past week, pro- and anti-Telangana legislators had been lobbying on the issue with the Congress and government leadership. Things came to such a head that Chief Minister Kiran Kumar Reddy staged a public sit-in here to protest at any partition of the state.
The Group of Ministers (GoM) on the issue, chaired by Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde had met on Thursday. Agreeing with the GoM decisions, the cabinet has agreed to grant special financial packages to the two new states. Despite misgiving on whether the government would actually go ahead with its declared decision, Shinde told reporters it was a “commitment” already made.
Earlier in the day on Friday, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kamal Nath appealed to all parties to make headway on the issue. He said, “This issue is not about Congress MPs. It's a question of Seemandhra versus Telangana MPs. My appeal to all members is that they have to understand if the issue is not solved in the 15th Lok Sabha, it will have to be settled in the next.”
Adding, “Even then, there will 17 MPs from Telangana and 25 from Seemandhra. This matter can only be put to rest by Parliament and by vote because there will always be members from Telangana and from Seemandhra. You can oppose it but opposing is different from obstruction; disrupting Parliament proceedings weakens democracy and the parliamentary system.”
With the polls for vacancies in the Rajya Sabha held on Friday, the government chose to have a special cabinet meeting on the issue only later in the evening. Both the Telugu Desam and the YSR Congress have been opposing creation of a new state. The Andhra legislative assembly had rejected the Bill for bifurcation but the Constitution allows the Centre and Parliament to override such a decision.
The government is expected to introduce it in this final session before the 2014 Lok Sabha polls, paving the way for creation of a new state.
Despite strong demands from the non-Telangana regions to confer Union Territory status on Hyderabad if bifurcation was being approved, the cabinet did not. In line with the earlier decision, Hyderabad will be a shared capital for 10 years, after which it will belong to the state of Telangana. This past week, pro- and anti-Telangana legislators had been lobbying on the issue with the Congress and government leadership. Things came to such a head that Chief Minister Kiran Kumar Reddy staged a public sit-in here to protest at any partition of the state.
The Group of Ministers (GoM) on the issue, chaired by Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde had met on Thursday. Agreeing with the GoM decisions, the cabinet has agreed to grant special financial packages to the two new states. Despite misgiving on whether the government would actually go ahead with its declared decision, Shinde told reporters it was a “commitment” already made.
Earlier in the day on Friday, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kamal Nath appealed to all parties to make headway on the issue. He said, “This issue is not about Congress MPs. It's a question of Seemandhra versus Telangana MPs. My appeal to all members is that they have to understand if the issue is not solved in the 15th Lok Sabha, it will have to be settled in the next.”
Adding, “Even then, there will 17 MPs from Telangana and 25 from Seemandhra. This matter can only be put to rest by Parliament and by vote because there will always be members from Telangana and from Seemandhra. You can oppose it but opposing is different from obstruction; disrupting Parliament proceedings weakens democracy and the parliamentary system.”
With the polls for vacancies in the Rajya Sabha held on Friday, the government chose to have a special cabinet meeting on the issue only later in the evening. Both the Telugu Desam and the YSR Congress have been opposing creation of a new state. The Andhra legislative assembly had rejected the Bill for bifurcation but the Constitution allows the Centre and Parliament to override such a decision.