Andhra Pradesh Assembly Rejects Telangana Bill, House Adjourned Sine Die Thursday Jan 30,2014

Andhra Pradesh Assembly session resumes at 10.40 A.M

Andhra Pradesh Assembly rejects Telangana bill, adjourned sine die at 11.37 A.M

At 11.40 A.M,86 MLAs put forward their views on the Bill. The Speaker introduced Chief Minister Kiran Kumar Reddy's resolution to reject the Bill. The Bill was put for a voice vote after which the Speaker ruled that most of the MLAs had rejected the Bill.

At 11.46 A.M,There are 175 Seemandhra legislators and 119 Telangana legislators and Telangana didn't vote as they were outnumbered

At 11.48 A.M,Telugu Desam Party MLA calls the rejection of the Telangana Bill in Andhra Pradesh Assembly as the verdict of the people. "This is not a victory. This is the verdict and will of the people that is reflected in the House rejecting the resolution."

At 11.50 A.M,The Congress's guarded reaction to the rejection of the Telangana Bill in Andhra Pradesh Assembly: "This is not a matter of victory or defeat. The Bill has been rejected with the best of intention and not to create problems for Seemandhra or Telangana regions of Andhra Pradesh," said Renuka Chowdhary. "This is not a matter of victory or defeat. The Andhra CM is resonating what is the sentiments of Seemandhra. The government will sit and look at it according to the law, Constitution and our view. This will go back to the President."

At 11.57 A.M,The Seemandhra region has 175 MLAs and 156 of them gave affidavits opposing the Telangana Bill. Telangana only has 119 MLAs.

In a major embarrassment to the Centre, the Andhra Assembly on Thursday rejected the AP Reorganisation Bill 2013 that envisaged the bifurcation of the State by creating the new State of Telangana.

The Bill was rejected by a voice vote and the Assembly was immediately adjourned sine die.It was thought that Speaker Nandela Manohar would only send the opinion in the form of affidavits. But in a surprise move, the Speaker accepted Chief Minister Kiran Kumar Reddy’s recommendation and put the bill to vote in an Assembly dominated by Seemandhra legislators.

Though the rejection may not have any bearing on the Draft Bill that will be introduced by the Union Government before Parliament early next month, the rejection will surely add fuel to political fire when AP goes to polls in a few months’ time.

It is now the President's prerogative to clear the bill for discussion and vote in Parliament in the session that starts on February 5. Sources say he is likely to consult legal experts on his next step.


Note 

The Assembly session was convened in two spells, from January 3 to 10 and January 16 to 23, and was later extended till January 30,2014

AP Chief Minister Kiran Kumar Reddy who is strongly opposed to bifurcation, last Friday submitted a notice to the speaker for moving a resolution to reject the bill and send it back to the President with a request not to refer it to parliament.

Terming the bill faulty and incomprehensive, AP Chief Minister Kiran Kumar Reddy on Wednesday Jan 29,2014 challenged the central government to table it in the same form in the parliament. He said if the parliament admitted the bill in the same form, he would quit politics.