Bill Passed in Rajya Sabha

Parliament Passed Telangana bill:

In India Telangana became 29th state of the Union with Parliament.Congress Party President Sonia Gandhi's request to the Prime Minister to give a special category status to Seemandhra for five years seems to have apparently clinched the issue and BJP came on board.A protective cordon was thrown around Singh as well as Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde by Congress members as members from Seemandhra region as also those from TMC and Shiv Sena stormed the Well with TMC members even tearing papers and throwing them on the floor.

The House looked like a virtual battle-ground during the five-hour proceedings, which saw seven adjournments as members resorted to slogan shouting and tore papers describing the bill passed by the Lok Sabha on Tuesday as illegal.Amidst the half a dozen 15-minute adjournments in Rajya Sabha before the House took up the Telangana bill, the UPA and BJP did a backstage jig to ensure its passage. 

Till Wednesday night, the BJP was insisting on amendments to address concerns of the Seemandhra and a constitutional amendment on powers of a common governor to be custodian of law and order. This was a day after it had supported passage of the bill on creation of Telangana amidst a din in Lok Sabha.

But, on Thursday, the BJP softened its stand, worried that it would have to take the blame if there was a last minute hurdle in bill’s passage in case of an amendment being returned to Lok Sabha at the end of the session. The budget session of Parliament ends on Friday, the day 16 suspended Seemandhra MPS return to Lok Sabha. Even if one of its amendments was voted in Rajya Sabha, it would have to go back to the Lower House for its approval.

Union ministers Sushilkumar Shinde, Jairam Ramesh and Kamal Nath had a meeting with BJP leaders LK Advani, Sushma Swaraj, Arun Jaitley and M Venkaiah Naidu. The government side conveyed that it was difficult for it to accept its demand for amendments. The BJP wanted a specific figure to be mentioned in the Seemandhra package, but the government rejected this too. Weighing its options, the BJP finally agreed not to persist with amendments if Naidu could speak in Rajya Sabha addressing concerns of Seemandhra and the Prime Minister intervened to assure a package for the region which was opposed to the state’s bifurcation. 

After frequent adjournments in Rajya Sabha through the day, Naidu finally opened the debate in the evening appealing for calm as he spoke amid the din of sloganeering, seeking a package for Seemandhra in the wake of Telangana’s formation. Later, the Prime Minister, speaking on the floor of the House, announced a special package for Seemandhra. 

A party leader said it was never the BJP’s intention to block the bill but while it backed creation of Telangana, it wanted justice for Seemandhra.On Wednesday, a series of backroom negotiations between the government, including Prime Minister Manmohan Singh at one point, ended in a stalemate with the BJP sticking to its demand for the amendments. The bill could not be taken up in Rajya Sabha on Wednesday.   BJP strategists are hoping that the party would gain politically in the Lok Sabha elections from its stance in Parliament once the heat over Telangana dies down and parties get into poll mode.

Keywords:Telangana Bill,Telangana Latest News

Telangana Issue Updates

Today Prime Minister Manmohan Singh reached out to the BJP over the bill to create a new Telangana state by dividing Andhra Pradesh, which is to be taken up in the Rajya Sabha.Dr Singh met BJP's Rajya Sabha leaders Arun Jaitley and Venkaiah Naidu a day after the bill was passed .Telangana will become 29^th state in country.

NOW THERE ARE 10 LATEST POINTS IN THIS ISSUE:

 The BJP has moved 20 amendments to the Telangana bill, including a compensatory package for Seemandhra, the non-Telangana region of Andhra Pradesh which fears a smaller share of water, power and revenue from Telangana once the new state is created. 

-The party has asked the Rajya Sabha chairman to ensure proper discussion on the bill a day after it was passed in the Lok Sabha.

-Kiran Kumar Reddy today resigned as Chief Minister and quit his Congress party. He had campaigned vociferously against the state's division, and had fronted the Andhra Pradesh assembly's resolution rejecting the Telangana proposal

-Linking the bifurcation of the state to political gains is wrong, Mr Reddy told. "I tried my best to prevent Telangana. Sorry, I couldn't."

-Union minister P Chidambaram told that Mr Reddy should have been asked to resign "much sooner."

-Protests against Telangana took an ugly turn in the Rajya Sabha, as a TDP MP, C Ramesh, tried to snatch papers from the Secretary General, and ended up hitting him on the chin.

-The MP apologized to the house later. "You can't attack the staff. Very unfortunate," said PJ Kurien, who was presiding over the Rajya Sabha. There were repeated disruptions in both houses.

-On Tuesday, moments after Home Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde took up the Telangana Bill in the Lok Sabha.Facing a political uproar, the Lok Sabha secretariat ordered a probe and later called it a technical glitch. 

 -Deputy parliamentary affairs minister, Rajiv Shukla, indicated that the blackout may have been planned as he said, "There are provisions for TV cameras to be turned off whenever there are disruptions in the house, when MPs are in the well."

-Many schools and colleges are shut in Seemandhra due to a shutdown called by anti-Telangana politicians including YSR Congress leader Jagan Mohan Reddy.

Telangana Bill Passed

After much discussions,the most controversial Telangana bill passes in LokSabha through voice votes.The controversial Telangana Bill was tabled in the Lower House of the Parliament on Tuesday. The T-Bill has been causing rift in the parliament as the legislators from Seemandhra are hell bent on not letting the state bifurcation bill passed.

 "A sad day for the entire system," said Union minister Pallam Raju, Minister of State for Railways and West Bengal state Congress chief Adhir Chowdhury defends the decision to pass Telangana Bill in Lok Sabha. The Congress leader said the TMC is against the decision for it is worried over the Gorkhaland issue.

 "Hyderabad would help Telangana but who would help Seemandhra and Rayalaseema," asked Swaraj, adding there should be a provision for that. 'Pepper Spray' MP L Rajagopal resigned from Parliament and even decided to quit politics. He sent his resignation letter to Speaker Meira Kumar. Rajagopal said that the creation of Telangana would harm the federal structure of the country and the people of Andhra Pradesh would go through traumatic experience after this.

Veteran BJP leader LK Advani criticises the manner in which the bill was passed in the Parliament. He called it "perversion of democracy".Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav slammed the government over the move of barring telecast and also splitting the state into two.Resignations of Congress MLAs in Seemandhra have started.

 Two AP minister Ganta Srinivas Rao and Erasu Pratap Reddy resigned. Four MLAs Thota Trimurthulu (Ramachandrapuram, East Godavari district), YU Ramanamurthy Raju (Yelamanchili), Avanthi Srinivas (Bheemili, Visakhapatnam District), Chinthalapudi Venkataramaiah (Gajuwaka, Visakha district) resigned from the Congress party .

 "It is a black day in the history of our country," said YSR Congress leader YS Jaganmohan Reddy, adding that democracy was killed in broad daylight. YSR Congress has called a strike in Andhra Pradesh on Wednesday. Sharad Yadav to address media on Telangana bill. Sonia Gandhi leaves Parliament House, Congress MP Ponnam Prabhakar touched her feet when she left.

 CPM MPs in the well, Trinamool objects to manner of Bill's passage, Saugata Roy asked for division of votes. The amendment to make #Hyderabad capital of #Telangana has been defeated by voice vote in Lok Sabha. Lok Sabha passes Telangana Bill through voice vote.Opposition party leader Sushma Swaraj said in the House that  her party will back the Bill. Home Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde has said that Seemandhra will get special financial package. 3:09 pm According to sources, it has been decided that those in well of the House will be considered not to have participated during Telangana Bill discussion.

 Telugu Desam Party chief Chandrababu Naidu arrives in Parliament to witness proceedings in Lok Sabha as government prepares to push through Telangana Bill . Speaker has asked Lok Sabha Secretariat to be ready to pass Telangana Bill in din. A division of votes is likely to take place through slips, not the electronic button.  Mayawati says Bahujan Samajwadi Party will support Telangana Bill in parliament.

 Andhra Pradesh minister Srinivasa Rao resigned. In a last ditch effort, Telugu Desam Party chief Chandrababu Naidu appealed to Narendra Modi to "use his good office" to keep Andhra Pradesh united till an amicable solution is reached on the issue of creation of separate Telangana. Andhra Pradesh law minister Pratap Reddy said that AP chief minister Kiran Kumar Reddy will resign today and will float a new party soon. Rajya Sabha adjourned till 2 pm after MPs opposing the Telangana Bill raised slogans and disrupted the proceedings.

 The Bharatiya Janata Party on Tuesday morning cancelled parliamentary party meet on Telangana Bill and informed that a smaller group of top party leaders will discuss the Bill strategy instead. The BJP has moved 33 amendments in the Bill and have said that the concerns of leaders from Telangana should be discussed before passing the Bill. Last week, a Seemandhra MP used pepper spray in the House to disrupt the Bill presentation. The Congress MPs from the region have also threatened to quit the party if the new state is formed.