Hyderabad: Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N. Kiran Kumar Reddy on Wednesday said the Assembly expressing its views against the state’s division would have a greater impact on the President and Parliament.
Speaking to mediapersons, he said there was no precedent wherein the Centre had gone ahead with division even after the state Assembly had opposed the same. He also reiterated that voting would take place on the Bill and amendments to the clauses, if any.
The Chief Minister, however, remained non-committal on moving a Motion against the AP Reorganisation Bill on his own as had been demanded by the YSR Congress. The Bihar Assembly too had witnessed a Motion against the Jharkhand Bill. “Wait and watch what I am going to do,” he said, adding that a unified state was not a slogan but a policy for him.
Appealing to the TD and YSRC to facilitate debate on the Bill, the Chief Minister said the two parties’ integrity would be put to test during the debate. “Anyone opposing the debate is only paving the way for division,” Kiran Kumar Reddy said.
The Chief Minister also took indirect potshots at the YSR Congress stating that some had burnt their fingers by trying to meddle with the elections of APNGOs who were all fighting for a united state.
On the Centre turning down the state’s request to provide objectives and financial memorandum of the Bill, the Chief Minister said he would address all the issues during his speech in the debate. He also expressed hope that the President might extend the timeframe of the Bill if the members continued mea-ningful debate on it.
