With the government going ahead with its decision to table the Telangana bill in the Parliament Session beginning tomorrow, a senior TDP MP and a strong supporter of Chandrababu Naidu today said he would be the first one to cast vote in favour of the legislation.
TDP leader in Lok Sabha, Nama Nageshwar Rao, also said that all the parties in Andhra Pradesh were vertically divided on the issue and his party's politburo had passed a resolution in favour of dividing the state in 2008.
Rao, who belongs to Telangana region and is a leader of the Telangana TDP forum, however, said that Naidu is the "unquestioned leader" of his party.
"In this session, they (the government) should introduce and pass the bill. All MPs from Telangana will definitely support the Telangana Bill. I personally will cast my vote first in favour of the Bill," Rao said.
He said that there are no differences within the TDP on the Telangana state formation. "Give Telangana and do justice to Seemandhra people," Rao said.
The TDP has six MPs in Lok Sabha-- four from Seemandhra region and two from Telangana. Besides Rao, Ramesh Rathode representing Adilabad is the other party MP from Telangana region.
Earlier, a Group of Ministers cleared the draft legislation to be placed before the Union Cabinet on Thursday to pave the way for its tabling in Parliament. The bill is expected to be taken up by Parliament, probably next week, after getting President's approval to the Cabinet decision.
Rao also criticised the Congress for playing politics over the issue.
"They have been sitting on the bill for the last five years. They divided the people. Now they are bringing the bill in the last Session of Parliament. We have doubts...", the Khammam MP said.
Meanwhile, the TDP leaders' delegation headed by Naidu met several leaders including Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav, Leader of the Opposition in Lok Sabha Sushma Swaraj, CPI's A B Bardhan and RJD chief Lalu Prasad to explain what was happening in Andhra Pradesh and the motive of the Congress in bifurcating the state.
