AP House adjourned till January 3 as Telangana stalemate continues

Hyderabad: The Andhra Pradesh Legislative Assembly was on Thursday abruptly adjourned till January 3 without even initiating the crucial debate on draft AP Re-organisation Bill-2013 that provides for the creation of a new state of Telangana.

With no end in sight to the stalemate that the House was pushed into in the last four days, Speaker Nadendla Manohar adjourned the Assembly this afternoon, much to the chagrin of Telangana members who insisted on a debate on the draft Bill.

The Speaker announced a fresh schedule for the Assembly session that will be held from January 3-23 in two phases, from January 3-10 and January 16-23, and a circular to this effect was issued to the members.

The draft Bill, referred to the state Legislature by the President of India under Article 3 of the Constitution for expressing its views, has to be returned to the Centre by January 23, 2014 as per the time given by the President.

The Seemandhara legislators, who vowed not to let the debate be taken up, apparently succeeded as practically no business could be transacted after the draft Bill was tabled in the House on Monday.

There was a lot of drama outside the House on Thursday as talk spread that the Assembly would be adjourned till January 3 without taking up the debate on the draft Bill. Worried TRS, BJP and CPI MLAs from Telangana shot off a letter to the Assembly Speaker requesting him to continue the session and let the debate be completed soon.

Ruling Congress MLAs from Telangana too met in Panchayat Raj Minister K. Jana Reddy's chamber and wanted the House to continue its sitting and complete the debate.

The Telugu Desam Telangana Forum also wrote a letter to the Speaker requesting him to continue the Assembly session and complete the debate by the end of this month and return the draft Bill to the Centre.

On the other hand, Telugu Desam legislators from coastal Andhra and Rayalaseema decided to meet President Pranab Mukherjee during his winter sojourn here and bring the shortcomings in the draft Bill to his notice.

"The draft Bill is full of lacunae. It did not even contain the statement of objects and reasons that is mandatory. We want the Speaker to return the Bill to the Centre. We will also meet the President on this," TDP Legislature Party deputy leader Gali Muddukrishnama Naidu said.

The YSR Congress, which is also opposing the Bill, insisted on adopting a resolution in the Assembly opposing the proposed bifurcation of the state. The ruling Congress legislators from Seemandhara too are pressing for a similar resolution in the House, for which they have already served a notice to the Speaker.

"In the interests of the people of our region, we want a united state. We too will meet the President to put forth our plea," senior Congress MLA J.C. Diwakar Reddy told reporters.