The most oft-asked question in Hyderabad these days is: Will Telangana happen? To my mind, the answer is: at least not before the 2014 elections.
But the UPA government, suddenly realizing that it is placed in a hopeless situation, will certainly table the Bill to reorganize Andhra Pradesh in the Lok Sabha.
Since the AP Assembly has got time till January 23, 2014, to consider and return the Bill, the same Bill cannot be tabled in the Lok Sabha in the present winter session as it has been adjourned suddenly.
The option before the government is to present the Bill in the budget session or to convene a special session in the interim to consider the Bill.
Since other parties may not play ball with the ruling party, the only option would be to present the Bill in the budget session that will be truncated and see just the presentation of ‘vote on account’ in view of the forthcoming elections.
It is not difficult to figure out that with so much opposition, the Bill will not get passed in the Lok Sabha in the pre-election session.
But the Congress will hope to reap electoral dividends in the Telangana region by saying that “we have presented the Bill and this demonstrates our commitment to the cause”.
Whether this argument will convince the electorate is a million dollar question.
Source: TimesOfIndia
