Brushing aside the bitter divisions within the parties in Andhra Pradesh, the UPA government is going ahead with its schedule for creation of separate Telangana state.
The AICC General Secretary in-charge of Andhra Pradesh Digvijay Singh has disclosed that the draft Telangana bill would be sent to the state Assembly by the end of this month.
Earlier, the Union Home Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde had said that the draft bill would be sent at appropriate time.
Singh gave a categorical schedule for this. He said it would be sent to the Assembly by month-end and the the bill would be introduced in the Parliament during the coming winter session.
This means that the Congress leaders are racing against time to complete preparation of the Telangana bill and present it as a birthday gift to their president Sonia Gandhi on December 9.
The AICC leader also said that the government would take steps as per the resolution of the Congress Working Committee (CWC) which had favoured formation of Telangana state with ten districts including Hyderabad. He indirectly denied reports that the UPA was considering the Rayala Telangana proposal.
Fast-forwarding the process, the seven-member Group of Ministers (GoM) is expected to complete its exercise by the end of this month.
A draft bill will then be placed before the Union cabinet, After the cabinet clearance, it will be sent to the President Pranab Mukherjee. He will refer it to the State Assembly for its views which are, of course, not binding on the Centre. After getting the presidential assent, the bill will be introduced in the Parliament.
Meanwhile, Singh said that the Chief Minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy, along with his family members, has always been a loyal Congressman and will remain so. He also denied media reports about the possible change of guard in the state.
