Kiran Reddy to ask President for Telangana debate extension
AP CM seeking four more weeks on debate seen as ploy to delay Telangana formation.
By : ch.v.m. krishna rao
Update: 2014-01-12 07:56 GMT
Hyderabad: Chief Minister N. Kiran Kumar Reddy is planning to write to the President of India seeking four more weeks for the state legislature to debate the Telangana Bill extensively.
Sources close to the Chief Minister told this newspaper that Kiran Kumar Reddy would be sending this communication to the President either on January 16 or 17, just before the legislature resumes the third and final phase of its present sitting, to continue the Telangana debate.
“The President had given six weeks’ time for the legislature to express its views on the Bill and return it by January 23. Since the debate has just started, it will be proper for the President to extend the time limit by four weeks. All the issues can be discussed thoroughly,” Kiran Kumar said.
In case additional time is granted, there will be a further delay in the introduction of the Telangana Bill in Parliament.
Next page: CM feels he has right to seek T time
CM feels he has right to seek T time
AP Chief Minister N. Kiran Kumar Reddy’s detractors are likely to interpret his move of writing to the President for more time to discuss the Telangana Bill as as an attempt to delay the Bill, as the Centre is keen to pass the Bill in the ensuing Vote-on-Account session, supposedly the last session of the Parliament before the 2014 general elections.
However, the CM feels that as a Leader of the House, he has every right to represent the matter for the consideration of the President.
In his communication, Kiran Kumar Reddy plans to tell the President that considering the complexities involved in the bifurcation of the state and given the current political situation, the legislature could not take up the debate on the T Bill in the first phase of the session. It has just about started the debate in the second phase.
Sources said that as per the proviso to Article 3 of the Constitution, the President may extend the time for the Bill if a request comes from the concerned state government. They cited the example of Uttar Pradesh, which was granted additional time to debate a similar debate.
In case additional time is granted, there will be a further delay in the introduction of the Telangana Bill in Parliament.