Hyderabad: Chief Minister N. Kiran Kumar Reddy announced on Saturday that a two-day brainstorming session will be held with Seemandhra ministers, MLAs, MPs and MLCs, after January 23.
Speaking to the media on Saturday, after the Assembly adjourned for the day, the Chief Minister said that he had told Seemandhra Congress MLAs and ministers that after the discussion on the Telangana Bill is over, and the Assembly is adjourned sine die, “there will be a two-day brainstorming session and we will decide our future”.
The Chief Minister would not comment on whether he would be floating a political party. “Everything will be decided in the two-day brainstorming session,” he said when asked repeatedly about rumours that he would launch a new party.
He was asked how many Seemandhra MLAs are planning to leave the party. He replied that after he became the Chief Minister, there were 30 Congress MLAs. “We cannot force them to stay in the party when they decide to go.”
He said that it is not possible to pass a separate resolution on a united state of Andhra Pradesh. The President of India has sent the Telangana Bill to the Assembly to express its views, and without discussing the Bill if the House passes a resolution for a united state, it will be of little use. The resolution should be a part of expressing the views on the Telangana Bill, he said.
He said that without voting by the Assembly, no new state has been formed in the country and “expressing views” means voting. He recalled that in 1998, the Bihar Assembly rejected the State Re-organisation Bill by voting on it.
Next: Kiran: Every Bill must have voting
Kiran: Every Bill must have voting
Hyderabad: If a majority of members oppose the Telangana Bill, it will be automatically rejected, and the Centre is bound to accept it. “Every Bill must have voting whether it is voice voting or by division,” Chief Minister Kiran Kumar Reddy insisted.
He appealed to members of all parties to give their opinion on the Bill, whatever it is, in the Assembly.
Asked if there was any possibility that the President would extend the deadline for the Bill’s passage, the Chief Minister said that after the debate starts, there will be more clarity on this.
He said that his office is an open book. If anyone finds any illegality they can approach the court with concrete evidence. When his attention was drawn to TRS MLA T. Harish Rao’s petition on the Chittoor drinking water supply scheme, the Chief Minister reacted sharply.
“When Rs 35,000 core is given to the Chevella-Pranahita scheme in Telangana, what is wrong in giving Rs 6,000 crore to the Chittoor drinking water supply scheme?” he asked.
The Chief Minister said that the division of the state will be a loss to both regions. He said that he has told AICC vice-president Rahul Gandhi that division of the state will mean that the Congress will lose in both regions.
He pointed out that after the pay revision commission, nearly Rs 64,000 crore is required to pay the salaries of government employees. How can the two states meet this amount, he questioned.
