AP, Telangana MPs still divided over state bifurcation
TRS and TD members expressing divergent views on the subject
Hyderabad: More than a year after Andhra Pradesh was bifurcated and Telangana state came into being, Lok Sabha on Thursday witnessed TRS and TD members expressing divergent views on the subject, during the special discussion on the Constitution.
Srikakulam Telugu Desam member Kinjarapu Rammohan Naidu, speaking on the issue, said that the state was bifurcated much against the wishes of its people who never wanted division.
Accusing the then UPA government of going ahead with bifurcation for political purposes, he said that the entire exercise was carried out without any rational basis, ultimately causing immense loss to residuary AP.
Mr Rammohan Naidu said that the Central government, using its powers under Article (3) of the Constitution, went ahead with the division of the state, despite the united AP Assembly passing a resolution against it.
He said that however good the Constitution, intentions of those implementing it also should be good, otherwise such exercises would end creating problems, like what residuary AP was now experiencing.
Countering this, TRS MP A.P. Jitender Reddy (Mahbubnagar, TS) refuted the TD member observation that Constitutional provisions were abused while affecting bifurcation.
“Division of the state was done as per the Constitution and the law. There was no abuse or misuse of the provisions. Was it not true that that Chandrababu Naidu, as President of the TD, gave his consent for division of the state? Was it not a fact that Naidu’s letter was delivered to (President) Pranab Mukherjee by then TD MP K. Yerrannaidu, your father? Was there no consensus among political parties over formation of Telangana? Was there no demand for bifurcation for over six decades?” Mr Jitender Reddy questioned Mr Rammohan Naidu.
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