Telangana Rashtra Samithi wants Andhra Pradesh mandals back
The NDA Cabinet had promulgated an ordinance on May 28, 2014, just five days prior to the appointed date of bifurcation, June 2, 2014.
Hyderabad: The Telangana Rashtra Samiti on Friday said that people of Telangana state will never forgive the Modi government for unilaterally merging seven mandals in Khammam district of the state with Andhra Pradesh and for bringing an ordinance in its very first cabinet meeting for the purpose. The NDA Cabinet had promulgated an ordinance on May 28, 2014, just five days prior to the appointed date of bifurcation, June 2, 2014.
During the debate on the no-confidence motion in the Lok Sabha on Friday, floor leader B. Vinod Kumar demanded an amendment to the AP Reorganisation Act, 2014 to re-merge the seven mandals into TS. He accused the Modi government of working against the interests of TS from the beginning and not fulfilling the assurances made to TS in the Bifurcation Act. He opposed special status for Andhra Pradesh if that meant tax and industrial incentives, and demanded that both the BJP and the Congress clarify what special status means.
“The people of Telangana state are annoyed with the governance of Modi from day one. They promulgated an ordinance to snatch away seven mandals in Khammam and merged them into AP. This is against the spirit of the Constitution. This was done during the honeymoon period between the TD and BJP,” Mr Vinod said amidst loud protests from TD members on Friday.
“Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu has gone on record to say that he will not take oath as CM of AP until and unless these mandals are merged into AP. TS lost Sileru hydel power project located in these mandals to AP, when TS was facing severe power crisis,” Mr Vinod said amidst loud protests from TD members. Mr Vinod’s comments on delay in bifurcation of the High Court also led to a furore in the House with TD members obstructing his speech.
“There is ill-motive (sic) on the part of AP for obstructing the bifurcation of the High Court. They could build the Secretariat and Assembly within a short span in Amaravati. But they have not built High Court buildings. This shows their ill motive. The present High Court in Hyderabad is serving both states. A majority of the judges in the High Court are not from our region. I don’t want to attribute anything to this. We demand that the Centre immediately bifurcate the High Court as promised in the Act," Mr Vinod said.
He demanded national status for the Kaleshwarm project, and establishing a steel plant, tribal university, and Kazipet railway coach factory in TS as promised in the bifurcation Act. Mr Vinod took a dig at the NDA government for not sanctioning funds for Mission Bhagiratha and Mission Kakatiya despite Niti Aayog recommending '25,000 crore. He recalled that the then Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Jayalalit-haa and Karnataka Congress leader Veerappa Moily had opposed giving special status to AP and had written to the Centre in this regard in 2014.