Telangana heats up President’s winter stay

Hyderabad: President Pranab Mukherjee was flooded with petitions to expedite the Telangana process.

A 38-member delegation of Telangana Joint Action Committee, led by Prof. Kodandaram, and a nine-member delegation, led by CPI state council secretary Dr K. Narayana,

former PCC president D. Srinivas and others met the President on Monday.

T-supporters thanked the President for sending the draft of the Andhra Pradesh State Reorganisation Bill-2013 to the state Assembly for its opinion, and requested him

to speed up the T-process.

They complained against Seemandhra MLAs and MLCs trying to stall the proceedings, disallowing a discussion as per the constitutional norms and disrespecting him.

The President accepted the memoranda submitted by TJAC and the CPI.

Ever since the President arrived in Hyderabad on his 12-day southern sojourn on December 20, he has been flooded with representations from anti-and pro-Telangana

groups making his trip a T-affair.

Members of the various delegations who met the President said the President did not offer any comment  on the issue.

The President had a meeting with Chief Minister Kiran Kumar Reddy, Leader of Opposition, N. Chandrababu Naidu, former PCC chief, D. Srinivas among others.

Notwithstanding opposition from people of Seemandhra to bifurcate Andhra Pradesh to form Telangana, the Centre is sticking to the schedule. So, it means that Telangana will be born during the Winter Session in December. The same has been confirmed by Union home minister Sushilkumar Shinde, who said: "I am telling you today that the Telangana Bill will be introduced in the Winter session, there is no change in that." The Group of Ministers, which has discussed pros and cons of a new state, will put the Bill together by November 20 and it will be sent to the Cabinet. Among various issues, declaring Hyderabad as the joint capital with jurisdiction and powers enjoyed by both Telangana and Seemandhra governments, without making it Union Territory seems to be the main concern of the GoM as there is still confusion on the status of Hyderabad as the joint capital. The home ministry will submit the Bill indicating recommendations of the GoM to the Cabinet, requesting approval for the state Bill. The Cabinet will recommend to the President Pranab Mukherjee to refer the Bill to the State Legislature and the Ministry of finance to appoint an expert committee to recommend measures for smooth transition.After the President sends it, the State Legislative Assembly and Legislative Council will give their opinion. Though Andhra CM Kiran Kumar Reddy (in pic), who is against the state's division, wanted the Bill to be put to vote, the demand was rejected. Hence the Assembly can only give its views. Will Kiran float a new party?After being passed by both Houses of Parliament, the Bill will be sent to the President for his final assent. The whole process will take over a month. In pics: It takes 7 months Meanwhile, the Congress Core Committee, which includes Congress president Sonia Gandhi and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, will meet on November 22 to discuss various issues of bifurcation, including the capital. CWC has proposed Hyderabad to be the joint capital of Telangana and Seemandhra for 10 years and A K Antony committee has recommended that revenue of Hyderabad must be shared between the two states.On employment, the GoM held a detailed meeting with Attorney General G. Vahanavati, who has said that Art 371(D) could be amended along with the Telangana Bill by applying the provisions for both the states.Article 371D confers special powers on the state of Andhra Pradesh to provide for equitable opportunities and facilities for people belonging to different parts of the state in the matter of public employment and education.If the Centre decides to do away with 371(D) through a special legislation, it may require a special majority in both Houses of Parliament, but if it is amended as part of the creation of Telangana state and reorganisation of AP State under Art 4, there should not be a problem, the Attorney General seems to have suggested. The GoM has taken into consideration various suggestions by political parties. That included Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen chief Asaduddin Owaisi, who is against the idea of Hyderabad becoming a Union Territory, seeking Urdu as the first language along with Telugu in the new state of Telangana. While the government has decided that Hyderabad would remain the joint capital of Telangana and Seemandhra for 10 years, Telangana Rashtra Samithi wants the new capital for Seemandhra to be ready in two to three years. It wants relocation of all gazetted officers who are wrongly recruited and promoted, in violation of various safeguards provided to Telangana employees.

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CPI to President: More seats needed in Telangana

Hyderabad: The CPI on Monday urged President Pranab Mukherjee to take steps to increase the number of Assembly seats in the new Telangana state to 153 from the present 119 in the T-Bill.

The party also urged the President to add another 50 seats in the residuary state of Andhra Pradesh.

CPI state council secretary Dr K. Narayana, who met the President at Rashtrapathi Nilayam, sought his intervention on the policy of political parties making promises in election manifesto and dumping them subsequently.

Describing the stalling of proceedings on T-Bill in Assembly and Council as undemocratic and unconstitutional, Dr Narayana said these parties were pursuing selfish and opportunistic policies.

The Congress, TD and the YSRC which often declare that they honour Parliamentary democracy but have practically have become a hurdle for the smooth functioning of state Assembly, he charged.

CPI also sought reconstitution of Krishna Water Disputes Tribunal II with a new chairman, setting up of regional development councils in backward Rayalaseema, north

Andhra, and allotment of special funds to backward Mahbubnagar, Anantapur, Nalgonda, Adilabad, Srikakulam, Vizianagaram and Prakasam.

While welcoming Polavaram project as national project, the CPI demanded similar status to Pranahita-Chevella, setting up of inter-state water management boards for the

maintenance of projects & canals with statutory powers, allotment of required gas, oil and coal to Telangana and Andhra Pradesh states as per norms prescribed.

“Serious observation be made on a political party which express two opinions in two different regions simultaneously. A political party cannot take different political

lines in and outside legislative bodies. We feel that such unhealthy trends be curtailed by your esteemed intervention for the smooth functioning of the Assembly.

Members should have freedom of expression and come to certain conclusion within stipulated period,”?he said.

Dr Narayana said leaders of these parties who are humiliating the T-Bill had met him.

“We do not know what they had talked to you. But everyone knows what they addressed to the media. Sir, you should take a serious note of what is transpiring in the state Assembly, and find out a scientific solution to the needs of all,”?he added.

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Telangana bill to be tabled in parliament in February: Reddy

New Delhi: Union Minister Jaipal Reddy on Wednesday said the Telangana statehood bill would be tabled in Parliament in the first week of February.

Briefing reporters here, Reddy, who is a senior Congress leader from Telangana region, said he was confident the bill would be passed.

"I am not only a cabinet minister but also a senior parliamentarian. I have my own assessment," he said. Asked about the change in portfolio of a Andhra Pradesh minister, which has kicked up a political storm in the state, he said any move by the (state) government and the Chief Minister are irrelevant to constitutional process.

"The wisdom of those doing this is limited," he charged without naming Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy who effected a minor reshuffle of portfolios by allocating Legislative Affairs to S Sailajanath from Seemandhra region, as an addition to the School Education portfolio he has been holding.

Civil Supplies Minister D Sridhar Babu, belonging to Telangana, was divested of the additional portfolio of Legislative Affairs and given charge of Commercial Taxes Department.

The portfolio re-jig seemingly sought to alter the regional equations at a time when the state legislature is set to take up a crucial debate on the draft AP Reorganisation Bill-2013, referred to by the President, from January 3.

Jaipal Reddy sought legislators to express their opinion about the Bill in the assembly. "If you do not discuss, it is the loss of the assembly," he added.

The President had given time till January 23 for the legislature to return the draft bill after due deliberations. 

After keeping mum for sometime, Andhra Pradesh chief minister Kiran Kumar Reddy has once again raised voice against the bifurcation of Andhra Pradesh to form a separate Telangana. He cautioned millions of farmers in Seemandhra and Telangana regions of the serious consequences of division of the state. According to him, the bifurcation was done without addressing key issues of water, power and infrastructure, which could lead to deficit and bigger problems. He fears the lapses in water distribution would erupt.In Andhra Pradesh, the dams located in one region serve the needs of other region. For example, Srisailam dam is located in Rayalaseema, but it serves the irrigation needs of Rayalaseema, Telangana and Andhra regions. So, Kiran is worried as how can that waters be shared. Telangana comprises 68 pc of the catchment area of the Krishna river and 79 pc catchment area of Godavari river. Utilising these resources for the development of the region will be a big challenge for the state.Andhra Pradesh's major rivers include Godavari, Krishna and Pennar. According to the Krishna tribunal award, Maharashtra gets 560 tmc feet of water, Karnataka 700 TMC and Andhra Pradesh 811 TMC. The Srisailam and Nagarjunasagar dams are central to the Krishna river in Andhra Pradesh. (1 TMC equals 28.3 billion litres).The Nagarjunasagar dam is right on the border of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana and caters to the irrigation needs of Andhra and Telangana. Kiran feels the new state would badly hit irrigation projects.Godavari is less exploited as compared with Krishna and most of the water flows into the Bay of Bengal. The Godavari Waters Disputes Tribunal in 1975 awarded 1,480 TMC to Andhra Pradesh, but proponents of separate Telangana are demanding more than 60 pc of that water share.As for agriculture is concerned, Seemandhra regions are better irrigated and account for 60 pc of total crops cultivated in Andhra Pradesh. Telangana has over 65 pc agriculture pumpsets. But with Telangana expected to face at least 40-50 pc power shortage, the irrigation projects will be affected.Currently in Andhra Pradesh, the power generation is only 57 million units per day against a demand of 115 MU. Though Telangana boasts of major coal deposits, Seemandhra has more gas-based stations with higher installed capacity of power. The Ramagundam thermal power station is in Telangana but is controlled by the Centre.Kiran accused TRS chief K. Chandrasekhar Rao of misleading farmers with a promise to bring 10,000 MW from Chhattisgarh since the installed capacity of the neighbouring state was only 6300 MW.Before bifurcating the state, the Centre, Kiran feels, must have clarity on the status of Hyderabad, which several people from Seemandhra made their home after the formation of AP decades ago.Even as APNGO members are protesting against shifting of the secretariat employees to Seemandhra, Kiran rejected the TRS statistics and said out of 18,856 employees identified as non-locals under GO 610, 9,174 were repatriated and 4,062 were exempted as per the rules.As the capital of united AP for nearly 60 years, Hyderabad city has witnessed enormous growth and transformed into a large metropolis. In the process, many other regions of the State have been neglected. People from Andhra and Rayalaseema are heavily dependent on Hyderabad for health facilities, education and employment opportunities.

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Kiran Reddy for voting on Telangana Bill soon

Hyderabad: Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N. Kiran Kumar Reddy is  firm about ensuring that a resolution is passed in the state Assembly and Council against the creation of Telangana state, when the session recommences from January 3, 2014. 

There is speculation he may quit his post once the Legislature session closes by January 23, after the Telangana debate.

Kiran for voting on T Bill soon

Sources close to Chief Minister Kiran Kumar Reddy say that before he resigns he wants to ensure that a symbolic resolution is passed seeking the Centre’s intervention to keep the state united. This will make it clear to the nation that the Centre is proceeding with the formation of Telangana state much against the majority wish of the elected representatives of the state.

After returning from Delhi, the Chief Minister contacted some of his confidants and instructed them to move such a resolution in accordance with the rules. He also told them to move as many amendments as they could to the various clauses in the Telangana Bill, and insist on voting so that it will be proved that a majority of the members are opposing various provisions.

The Chief Minister has reportedly been advised by legal pundits that if some amendments are moved and an appropriate resolution against Telangana is passed, these will be useful as evidences should the matter reach the higher courts.

The Chief Minister reportedly cited one such resolution by the Bihar Assembly against the formation of Vananchal State (Jharkhand) proposed by the then United Front government, in 1998. It was agreed to by the Bihar Assembly later only after arriving at a consensus among all political parties. But, still, several amendments were proposed and voting took place on each clause in the Re-Organisation Bill sent to both Bihar and UP by the President.

The Chief Minister also reportedly remarked that when he earlier said that voting has to take place on various clauses of the Bill, several leaders took it lightly and even ridiculed his claim, but now it is established that even during Speaker Nadendla Manohar’s visit to Patna and Lucknow,  those states had also moved amendments and decided on voting.

One thing is very clear from the Chief Minister’s latest move: the forthcoming Assembly session is going to be a stormy one. 

Pro-Telangana legislators will place every obstacle in the way of Seema-andhra legislators moving a resolution to the draft bill. They will insist that any amendment must be moved and voted on only in Parliament, and whatever amendments are passed in the State Legislature will not have any standing.

After keeping mum for sometime, Andhra Pradesh chief minister Kiran Kumar Reddy has once again raised voice against the bifurcation of Andhra Pradesh to form a separate Telangana. He cautioned millions of farmers in Seemandhra and Telangana regions of the serious consequences of division of the state. According to him, the bifurcation was done without addressing key issues of water, power and infrastructure, which could lead to deficit and bigger problems. He fears the lapses in water distribution would erupt.In Andhra Pradesh, the dams located in one region serve the needs of other region. For example, Srisailam dam is located in Rayalaseema, but it serves the irrigation needs of Rayalaseema, Telangana and Andhra regions. So, Kiran is worried as how can that waters be shared. Telangana comprises 68 pc of the catchment area of the Krishna river and 79 pc catchment area of Godavari river. Utilising these resources for the development of the region will be a big challenge for the state.Andhra Pradesh's major rivers include Godavari, Krishna and Pennar. According to the Krishna tribunal award, Maharashtra gets 560 tmc feet of water, Karnataka 700 TMC and Andhra Pradesh 811 TMC. The Srisailam and Nagarjunasagar dams are central to the Krishna river in Andhra Pradesh. (1 TMC equals 28.3 billion litres).The Nagarjunasagar dam is right on the border of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana and caters to the irrigation needs of Andhra and Telangana. Kiran feels the new state would badly hit irrigation projects.Godavari is less exploited as compared with Krishna and most of the water flows into the Bay of Bengal. The Godavari Waters Disputes Tribunal in 1975 awarded 1,480 TMC to Andhra Pradesh, but proponents of separate Telangana are demanding more than 60 pc of that water share.As for agriculture is concerned, Seemandhra regions are better irrigated and account for 60 pc of total crops cultivated in Andhra Pradesh. Telangana has over 65 pc agriculture pumpsets. But with Telangana expected to face at least 40-50 pc power shortage, the irrigation projects will be affected.Currently in Andhra Pradesh, the power generation is only 57 million units per day against a demand of 115 MU. Though Telangana boasts of major coal deposits, Seemandhra has more gas-based stations with higher installed capacity of power. The Ramagundam thermal power station is in Telangana but is controlled by the Centre.Kiran accused TRS chief K. Chandrasekhar Rao of misleading farmers with a promise to bring 10,000 MW from Chhattisgarh since the installed capacity of the neighbouring state was only 6300 MW.Before bifurcating the state, the Centre, Kiran feels, must have clarity on the status of Hyderabad, which several people from Seemandhra made their home after the formation of AP decades ago.Even as APNGO members are protesting against shifting of the secretariat employees to Seemandhra, Kiran rejected the TRS statistics and said out of 18,856 employees identified as non-locals under GO 610, 9,174 were repatriated and 4,062 were exempted as per the rules.As the capital of united AP for nearly 60 years, Hyderabad city has witnessed enormous growth and transformed into a large metropolis. In the process, many other regions of the State have been neglected. People from Andhra and Rayalaseema are heavily dependent on Hyderabad for health facilities, education and employment opportunities.

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Telangana is no cup of joy, Kiran Reddy tells Rahul Gandhi

Hyderabad: On Friday, Chief Ministers of Congress-ruled states and other AICC leaders seemed surprised when Chief Minister N. Kiran Kumar Reddy urged AICC vice-president Rahul Gandhi not to go ahead with the state bifurcation as it would spell disaster for the party in the upcoming general elections.

Reddy also informed the Congress vice-president that public attendance in the thanksgiving meetings that were being organised in Telangana to honour AICC president Sonia Gandhi were also poor. That, coupled with the Narendra Modi wave and the TRS stealing the Congress’ thunder regarding bifurcation, meant that the party could not be sure of securing maximum seats even in Telangana.

Gandhi had convened the party Chief Ministers’ meeting in New Delhi on Friday to ask them to give more impetus to the drive ag-ainst corruption, take up more pro-poor schemes, and to effecti-vely execute the welfare projects taken up by the UPA-II government.

He also wanted to know the ground-level political situations in the respective states, including possibilities of tie-ups with like-minded parties.
Reddy had exclusive talks with Gandhi on the sidelines of the meeting and urged him to reverse the Tela-ngana decision so that he could ensure a respectable number of seats for the Congress in the state upcoming polls.

T meet turnouts poor, says Kiran

Chief Minister Kiran Kumar Reddy said that even the thanksgiving meetings organised by Telangana Congress leaders did not go off well in as the turnouts for the meetings had been poor.

He did not seek an appointment with Congress president Sonia Gandhi this time too. He has not met the party chief since July 12 meeting of the Congress Core Committee, when he had made his presentation for the united AP cause.

Sources said that when Mr Reddy’s turn came to speak in the meeting, he said that with the recent decision by the Centre to carve out Telangana, the political situation in the state had completely changed and there was no guarantee that the Congress would have a respectable showing in the coming elections owing to the bifurcation.

According to him, the Congress would not repeat its 2009 performance in Telangana (50 Assembly and 12 Lok Sabha seats), let alone the landslide win that the party high command was expecting for granting T state.

He reportedly observed that despite his repeated requests to keep the state united, the high command had acted in haste and decided to divide AP. He said that despite his government introducing several schemes, which had significantly decreased the anti-incumbency factor, the bifurcation decision had made matters worse.

He reported that TRS men were claiming credit for creation of Telangana.

He also reportedly informed that the Narendra Modi factor and TRS activists taking credit for the Telangana state were also impacting the Telangana voter.

Mr Reddy informed the leaders that there was widespread resentment in Seemandhra over the bifurcation decision, otherwise things would have been entirely different in the upcoming elections.
Regarding taking up pro-poor measures, particularly the food security scheme, Mr Reddy informed that the AP government had been supplying food grains at Rs 1 per kg. He also distributed a booklet containing various programmes and schemes in this regard.

After keeping mum for sometime, Andhra Pradesh chief minister Kiran Kumar Reddy has once again raised voice against the bifurcation of Andhra Pradesh to form a separate Telangana. He cautioned millions of farmers in Seemandhra and Telangana regions of the serious consequences of division of the state. According to him, the bifurcation was done without addressing key issues of water, power and infrastructure, which could lead to deficit and bigger problems. He fears the lapses in water distribution would erupt.In Andhra Pradesh, the dams located in one region serve the needs of other region. For example, Srisailam dam is located in Rayalaseema, but it serves the irrigation needs of Rayalaseema, Telangana and Andhra regions. So, Kiran is worried as how can that waters be shared. Telangana comprises 68 pc of the catchment area of the Krishna river and 79 pc catchment area of Godavari river. Utilising these resources for the development of the region will be a big challenge for the state.Andhra Pradesh's major rivers include Godavari, Krishna and Pennar. According to the Krishna tribunal award, Maharashtra gets 560 tmc feet of water, Karnataka 700 TMC and Andhra Pradesh 811 TMC. The Srisailam and Nagarjunasagar dams are central to the Krishna river in Andhra Pradesh. (1 TMC equals 28.3 billion litres).The Nagarjunasagar dam is right on the border of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana and caters to the irrigation needs of Andhra and Telangana. Kiran feels the new state would badly hit irrigation projects.Godavari is less exploited as compared with Krishna and most of the water flows into the Bay of Bengal. The Godavari Waters Disputes Tribunal in 1975 awarded 1,480 TMC to Andhra Pradesh, but proponents of separate Telangana are demanding more than 60 pc of that water share.As for agriculture is concerned, Seemandhra regions are better irrigated and account for 60 pc of total crops cultivated in Andhra Pradesh. Telangana has over 65 pc agriculture pumpsets. But with Telangana expected to face at least 40-50 pc power shortage, the irrigation projects will be affected.Currently in Andhra Pradesh, the power generation is only 57 million units per day against a demand of 115 MU. Though Telangana boasts of major coal deposits, Seemandhra has more gas-based stations with higher installed capacity of power. The Ramagundam thermal power station is in Telangana but is controlled by the Centre.Kiran accused TRS chief K. Chandrasekhar Rao of misleading farmers with a promise to bring 10,000 MW from Chhattisgarh since the installed capacity of the neighbouring state was only 6300 MW.Before bifurcating the state, the Centre, Kiran feels, must have clarity on the status of Hyderabad, which several people from Seemandhra made their home after the formation of AP decades ago.Even as APNGO members are protesting against shifting of the secretariat employees to Seemandhra, Kiran rejected the TRS statistics and said out of 18,856 employees identified as non-locals under GO 610, 9,174 were repatriated and 4,062 were exempted as per the rules.As the capital of united AP for nearly 60 years, Hyderabad city has witnessed enormous growth and transformed into a large metropolis. In the process, many other regions of the State have been neglected. People from Andhra and Rayalaseema are heavily dependent on Hyderabad for health facilities, education and employment opportunities.

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