Naidu condemns Telangana-process

Hyderabad: Opposition leader and Telugu Desam president N. Chandrababu Naidu said on Monday that the whole exercise by the Central government in the case of the Telangana Bill was politically-motivated and undemocratic.

Addressing a media conference at his residence on Monday, Mr Naidu said that nowh-ere in the Constitution was it mentioned that the capital of one state should be located in another state capital, adding that there are many such lacunae and unconstitutional provisions in the Telangana Bill.

He said that on previous occasions, prior approval for the bifurcation of a state has been sought from that state’s Assembly before the state was divided. This is the first time that without seeking approval of the Asse-mbly, the Centre has directly introduced the Bill in the AP Assembly.

He said that the Speaker of the House had taken advantage of the Chief Minister’s absence and acted in a manner detrimental to all norms of decency and decorum, by getting the Bill introduced amidst objections.

Central leaders have been promising to protect the interests of the Seemandhra region, but there has been no mention of this in the Bill that was introdu-ced on Monday.

“Why was the Speaker in such a hurry (to introduce the Bill)? He had promised to discuss the Telangana Bill with all party leaders. Now, without consulting anybody or informing anyone, he has directly introduced the Bill and, thereby, violated all norms of the House,” Mr Naidu fumed.