Thursday 1 August 2013

How the Telangana file moved forward

Next: How the Telangana file moved forward
Related Articles
Happy to break silence, not feeling intimidated: Shobhaa De

How the Telangana file moved forward

In fact, then Home minister P. Chidambaram’s statement of December 9, 2009, read: “The process of forming the state of Telangana will be initiated. An appropriate resolution will be moved in the state Assembly.”

On December 10, 2009, Chidambaram in the Rajya Sabha, and the then finance minister Pranab Mukherjee in the Lok Sabha, had both made similar statements which are part of Parliament’s records.

The then Chief Minister, K. Rosaiah, could not, however, move the appropriate resolution in the state Assembly the next day because of disturbances in the House on the question of bifurcation, which finally resulted in the resignations of 140 MLAs who opposed the move.

The House was also abruptly adjourned by the then Speaker N. Kiran Kumar Reddy due to continuous disturbances.  A few months later, Rosaiah told the media that when he was asked by the Congress high command to move the motion, he told them he cannot do it.

Under Rule 77, a resolution can be moved by any member or minister in the Assembly, and after it is passed, it will be referred to the concerned ministry in the Union government.

If all political parties adhere to their stated positions on Telangana, there should be no problem passing the resolution for a divided state.

Since the mover of the resolution is going to be none other than the Chief Minister, the Congress’s 146 MLAs will vote in favour.

The Telugu Desam with 79 (the party has publicly announced its pro-Telangana stand), Telangana Rashtra Samiti with 17 MLAs, the BJP with three and the CPI with four and two Independents, all supporters of Telangana, will ensure that the votes in favour of the resolution will be 251 in an Assembly of 279.

The snag, of course, is that these numbers include legislators from the Seemandhra region too.  But they are unlikely to give in tamely. Even if whips are issued to legislators by their respective parties, Seemandhra legislators cutting across party lines are bound to defy it and vote against the resolution.

The ruling Congress party cannot afford to take action against its own defiant MLAs as the stability of government is at stake.

With the general election only a few months away, legislators from the Seemandhra region have threatened to resign, something their parties can ill afford at this juncture. Much therefore depends on how political parties manage their legislators if it comes to a resolution in the Assembly.

No comments:

Post a Comment