A new row has broken out in the ongoing debate over the bifurcation of Andhra Pradesh.
It pertains to whether the debate on the AP Reorganisation Bill, 2013, has started in the Assembly or not.
The Chief Minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy, who is strongly opposed to the division of the state, has said that the debate has not yet started in the House.
The schedule of the debate will be decided at a meeting of the Assembly Business Advisory Committee (BAC), scheduled at 11.30 today.
However, the Legislative Affairs Minister D Sridhar Babu, who hails from Telangana, had announced yesterday that the debate has already been initiated as the Deputy Speaker Batti Vikramarka, who was in the Chair, had asked the Leader of the Opposition and Telugu Desam Party chief N Chandrababu Naidu to initiate the debate on the bill.
However, the House was adjourned amid utter confusion yesterday even before Naidu could respond. The Deputy Speaker's move followed Sridhar Babu's request to permit the initiation of the debate.
However, the Seemandhra legislators, cutting across party lines, have been arguing that the debate should be initiated only after the meeting of the BAC.
Since the BAC meeting was not held to decide the schedule, it means that the debate has not yet started as per the procedures of the Assembly.
The fresh row is set to bring the Chief Minister in confrontation with his Telangana colleagues.
Meanwhile, the Telanagana Ministers met the Chief Minister this morning and urged him to cooperate with the smooth passage of the bill. Kiran stayed away from the House yesterday when the contentious bill was tabled while he is attending the proceedings today.
