Cong wrestles LS, passes Telangana by voice vote amid din, blackout

The Congress-led UPA government has finally managed to pass the bill that attributes statehood to Telangana and bifurcates Andhra Pradesh in the Lok Sabha today. This follows strong defiance from within the Congress party itself, which has been left in a spot when its own MPs revolted and chief minister Kiran Kumar Reddy threatened to step down. The Bill was passed after a voice vote, amid an unprecedented decision to black out live telecasts of the proceedings. The decision to do so has been slammed as being ‘undemocratic’ and led to both the TMC and JD(U) walking out in protest. The unruly scenes that dominated the lower house of the Indian parliament involved a Congress leader, L Rajagopal from Seemandhra, using pepper spray on colleagues a few days back.  The Lok Sabha tried to function today but there was deafening ruckus in the house and Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde was interrupted several times while trying to table the Bill. [caption id=“attachment_1396689” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Telangana MPs protest in Parliament. PTI.[/caption] The Bill was initially rejected in the Andhra Pradesh assembly. “Today we saw, how democracy can be killed in broad daylight. Live telecast was stopped, supporters of Seemandhra were suspended, doors were closed. The issue was taken up against the will of the Assembly, against the wishes of the people of Andhra Pradesh. The way the proceedings took place, the way the ayes and nays were called by the speaker indicated that democracy can be murdered. It is a black day in the history of India, we are calling a bandh in Andhra Pradesh to protest,” said YSR Congress chief Jagan Reddy. Prior to the bill being passed in Lok Sabha, there were a series of complications. Although the Congress said yesterday that Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde tabled the bill, opposition parties including the BJP and TMC insisted it was never tabled. The Congress party’s woes however, didn’t end just there. Over two dozen MPs from Bihar’s ruling Janata Dal-United (JD-U) staged a dharna in parliament demanding grant of special status to the state, JD-U state president Vashisht Narain Singh Monday said. “JD-U MPs will put pressure on the central government by staging dharna in the premises of the parliament,” Singh said. Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar has once again linked the grant of special status to development in the hope of JD-U sweeping the state’s 40 seats in the next Lok Sabha polls. Meanwhile, Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy is reportedly contemplating resigning from his post against the state’s division and launching a new political party. According to CNN-IBN, Reddy is all set to resign in the next 24 hours and may announce the formation of a new party. “The whole country says the (Telangana) bill for division is undemocratic. Still, they say that we will go ahead and make the bill win by hook or crook, pass even by voice vote. In this situation, there is a need for a new party. Kiran Kumar Reddy would definitely form a new party and try to keep the state united,” state Law Minister Erasu Pratap Reddy  had said. “We actually decided that we should quit on (February) 16th. But, main opposition BJP says that the bill has not been tabled. Chief Minister is not quitting today to strengthen that. When it is officially announced that the bill has been tabled in parliament, then he will quit and all of us would quit,” he said. Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi on Monday assured central ministers and party MPs from Seemandhra that justice would be done to their region while carving out a separate Telangana state. Union Minister of State for Finance JD Seelam told reporters after a meeting with Gandhi that they submitted their demands which include making Hyderabad a union territory for a specific period, sharing of revenue of Hyderabad between Telangana and Seemandhra and special packages for north coastal Andhra and Rayalaseema regions, and hoped these would be considered. Earlier Monday, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kamal Nath told reporters, “The Telangana bill will come up for discussion in the Lok Sabha on 18 Februrary,” adding those who want to oppose it can do so “in a parliamentary manner”. The minister said Congress president Sonia Gandhi is likely to speak on the issue as well. The Congress has issued a three-line whip to its members to be present in the house on all days of the week to ensure the passage of the Telangana bill.