Hyderabad: Congress legislators from coastal Andhra and Rayalaseema regions have decided to cooperate with other like-minded political parties in their effort to thwart the bifurcation of Andhra Pradesh.
A dozen ministers and about 20 MLCs and MLAs held a meeting with Chief Minister N. Kiran Kumar Reddy at his camp residence Friday evening to chalk out the strategy in the wake of the Union Cabinet's approval for the draft AP Reorganisation Bill-2013.
Congress leaders, sources said, suggested that a joint struggle be launched with other political parties which are opposing the state's division.
The Chief Minister concurred and asked senior ministers and leaders to coordinate with other parties, sources said. They resolved to strongly oppose the bifurcation when the draft Bill is referred to the state Assembly for its opinion.
The future course of action will be decided after the Bill is referred to the House. The legal fight in Supreme Court will be resumed as soon as the Reorganisation Bill goes to Parliament.
The Chief Minister told his colleagues that a meeting with Union Ministers and MPs fromSeemaandhra would be held here on December 11 to firm up the strategy to prevent bifurcation, a senior minister said.
Meanwhile, Telugu Desam Party president N. Chandrababu Naidu once again lashed out at the Centre for the manner in which it was seeking to split AP.
"Is it the way a crucial issue like state bifurcation is decided by the Union Cabinet? Many ministers refused to read the draft Bill as it was hurriedly brought in as a table item at the Cabinet meet.
"How could the Cabinet approve an item that was not even read by its ministers?" the former Chief Minister asked.
Congress was seeking to go ahead with the bifurcation by throwing all Constitutional norms and rules to the wind only to serve its political vested interests, Chandrababu said.
He appealed to the President Pranab Mukherjee to take note of the omissions and commissions of the Congress and the UPA government in pushing through the bifurcation process.
