The Congress high command has delivered a clear, unambiguous message to the rebellious Chief Minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy on the Telangana bill issue.
The visiting AICC General Secretary in-charge of Andhra Pradesh affairs Digvijay Singh has made it clear that Kiran has to abide by the party's decision on bifurcation of the state.
“Kiran Reddy was given an opportunity to express his views on the bifurcation issue, and he did it quite effectively. The CWC later took the decision to divide the state, which all Congressmen will have to abide by. The chief minister is also bound by the CWC decision,” Singh told reporters on Friday.
The Congress central leader is in the city on "Mission Telangana", trying to convince the Seemandhra leaders, including Chief Minister, to cooperate in the smooth passage of the Telangana bill in the Assembly.
He reiterated that the Congress was committed to the creation of Telangana state.
“Congress was the last party to agree to the division of the state after all the parties in the state agreed to the bifurcation. We stand by the Congress Working Committee (CWC) decision and the process of bifurcation is moving towards achieving that goal,” he said.
Singh appealed to all the parties to facilitate discussion on each and every clause of the Bill and give opinion on them.
“After the discussions and recording of opinion on every aspect of the Bill, it can be sent to the President before January 23, 2014, for consideration,” he said, adding that there were provisions in the Bill to address various issues raised by both Rayalaseema and Telangana people.
Asked when the Bill would be tabled in the House, the veteran Congress leader said the Business Advisory Committee (BAC) of the State Legislature would meet on Monday and take a call on that.
“It is for the BAC to decide when the Bill should be tabled, and we can’t influence its decision,” he said.
