The stalemate over the bifurcation Bill continued as both Houses of the Andhra Pradesh legislature were adjourned till Tuesday. Two back-to-back meetings of the business advisory committee of the Assembly failed to arrive at a consensus on how to proceed on the Bill in the House.
Assembly Speaker Nadendla Manohar adjourned the House minutes after it resumed this morning. Legislators supporting the division of the State as well as those opposed to it stormed into the well of the House raising slogans . Holding placards, they stalled the proceedings despite repeated requests from the Chair to allow business to be transacted .
The Speaker appealed to floor leaders of all political parties to persuade their respective members to relent. Seeing no change in mood, he said proceedings would resume after the BAC meeting. Similar scenes were witnessed in the Legislative Council as well.
The BAC meeting, which lasted three hours, witnessed similar sentiment with Seemandhra Telugu Desam legislators wanting the Bill to be sent back, while the YSR Congress Party said they would allow discussion only after passage of a resolution to keep the State united.
Devineni Uma, an integrationist leader from TDP, alleged that the Bill had about 20 un-Constitutional provisions.
“There are about 20 such violations, including infringement of State’s right over waters and law and order,” he said.
Positive step “The State Government wrote a letter to the Centre, seeking clarifications. The Government should divulge the content of the letter,” he said.
Meanwhile, Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) floor leader in the Assembly Etela Rajendar termed the move to seek written opinion on the changes in the Bill as a step in the right direction.
YSR Congress Party leader Srikanth Reddy said his party would work with other parties opposed to bifurcation.