Telangana Bill: Ball In Speaker's Court, MLAs On The Edge

By Arhaan Faraaz | Hyderabad

All eyes will be on Speaker N Manohar as the Assembly meets Monday. Will he accept Chief Minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy’s notice seeking to introduce a government resolution rejecting the AP Reorganisation Bill-2013?

The Chief Minister’s camp is confident that he will and are counting on Seemandhra legislators to carry the day. The Telangana camp is, however, not taking the CM’s salvo lying down. The Telangana Congress leaders went into a huddle at IT Minister Ponnala Lakshmaiah’s residence on Sunday and made representations to the Governor, Speaker and Council Chairman urging them not to entertain the notice, which they pointed out, was given without prior discussion in the State Cabinet. 
Panchayat Raj Minister K Jana Reddy, who flew to New Delhi, discussed the issue with Congress State affairs incharge Digvijaya Singh. “There will be no voting on the notice given by the Chief Minister,” he later said. Singh too played it down, pointing out that the “bill was sent for comments and discussion is welcome.” It’s not the first time that Kiran Reddy has spoken against it, he reminded.

Seemandhra Ministers, Ganta Srinivasa Rao, Erasu Pratap Reddy, TG Venkatesh and Botcha Satyanarayana, on the other hand, discussed floor strategy with the Chief Minister, who advised them to ensure 100 per cent attendance of the region’s legislators in the Assembly on Monday. In fact, he wanted them to be in the Assembly by 8 a.m.

He reportedly allayed the fears of the ministers over whether a resolution could be sought to be moved since the notice was given under Rule 77 which deals with conduct of business in the House. Sources said the Chief Minister told them that irrespective of the bill’s origins, Assembly rules apply once it’s before the House.

Chief Minister N Kiran Reddy told Seemandhra Ministers, who called on him, to ensure that all MLAs of the region are in attendance in the House on Monday by 8 a.m. itself. Meanwhile, T Cong leaders made representations to the Governor and Speaker against the CM’s notice.