Telangana bill in Parliament today: Will govt finally pass it?

T-day could finally be upon us, with the Congress planning to pass the Telangana bill in the Lok Sabha today, after having tabled it amid an unprecedented pepper spray attack on Thursday. The attack, which was carried out by expelled Congress leader L Rajagopal, saw the suspension of 17 Seemandhra MPs in total. The MPs who had been protesting in the well of the house for the last two Parliament sessions, had vowed not to allow the bill to be tabled. Despite the suspensions however, there are still likely to be protests in the well of the house, and plenty of disruptions. And to add to the complications, although the Congress says that Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde tabled the bill, opposition parties including the BJP and TMC insist it was never tabled. [caption id=“attachment_1395871” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Will we finally see T-day?[/caption] It has been accepted by Lok Sabha speaker Meira Kumar, but is however, likely to be another issue of contention when Parliament resumes later this morning. The Congress party’s woes however, don’t just end there. Over two dozen MPs from Bihar’s ruling Janata Dal-United (JD-U) will stage 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.