Andhra Pradesh Assembly rejects Telangana Bill

Hyderabad, Jan 30: The Andhra Pradesh State Legislative Assembly on Thursday rejected the State Reorganisation Bill 2013 on creating a separate Telangana State.

Amid protests by legislators from Telangana region, Speaker Nadendla Manohar took up the resolution moved by Chief Minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy seeking rejection of the Bill and passed it by a voice vote. The Speaker said that he was also in receipt of nine non-official resolutions and since the official resolution has been passed, there was no need to take up those resolutions. Then he adjourned the House sine die.

In his resolution, the Chief Minister had urged President of India Pranab Mukherjee not to refer the Bill to the Parliament as “it seeks to bifurcate the State without any reason and consensus and in utter disregard to linguistic and cultural homogeneity and economic and administrative viability.”

Earlier, the Speaker informed that the debate on the Bill, which was tabled in Assembly on December 16, has been concluded as the deadline set by the President expires today. As many 86 MLAs participated in the debate and almost all members submitted their views in writing. He said as many as 9,072 Amendments to the Bill moved by the members would also form part of the official record and it would be sent to the President.

The announcement by the Speaker came after two adjournments since morning as MLAs from Telangana stalled the proceedings demanding him to reject the notice given by the Chief Minister.

- INN