Amid doubts over the possibility of the formation of Telangana state before the next general elections, it is now confirmed that the President Pranab Mukherjee has given time till January 23 for the Andhra Pradesh Assembly to debate and return the AP Reorganization Bill that seeks to create a separate Telangana state with ten districts and Hyderabad as the common capital for a period of ten years.
It remains to be seen how the developments will pan out in the state Assembly with the Chief Minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy leading the efforts to stall bifurcation of the state.
The Seemandhra legislators are keen to see that the draft bill is defeated on the floor of the House to send across a strong message to the Centre that a majority of the people of the state are against the division.
On the other hand, the AICC General Secretary Digvijay Singh is personally meeting the MLAs from Seemandhra to persuade them to cooperate in ensuring that the draft bill is passed in the Assembly.
The President suggested a six-week time frame for the state Assembly to consider and discuss the provisions of the bill and communicate its views.
The draft bill will now be sent to the Andhra Pradesh Assembly and the Speaker Nadendla Manohar's office has already been informed about it.
The Winter Session of the state legislature has commenced on Thursday. The President had sought legal opinions as he wanted the bill to be legally sound before sending it to the state Assembly for approval.
The Andhra Pradesh State Reorganisation Bill has already seen a virtual revolt from the state Congress' own Chief Minister vowing to defeat the bill and halt division of the state.
However, the constitutional position is clear that irrespective of the Assembly's opinion, the Parliament can go ahead with creation of new states. The Union Cabinet had on December 5 given the go-ahead for the creation of a 10-district Telangana and outlined the blueprint for carving out the country's 29th state.
