The Union home ministry proposes to present a Cabinet note on the controversial issue of creating a separate state of Telangana within the next three weeks. A crucial meeting of the A.K. Antony committee will be held on Tuesday to discuss the contentious matter of Hyderabad being the capital of both regions.
Home minister Sushilkumar Shinde said: “We are preparing a note to pass a resolution in the Cabinet. After we finalise the note, it will be sent to the law ministry for vetting. I hope the note will be presented before the Cabinet within 20 days.”
The Cabinet, after clearing the proposal, is expected to appoint a Group Of Ministers to go into the nitty-gritty of the bifurcation of Andhra Pradesh, after which a resolution will be sent to the Andhra Pradesh Assembly. Once Telangana is formed, it will become the country’s 29th state. The issue, which has rocked the Monsoon Session of Parliament, caused a further ruckus Monday with Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar suspending five Congress and four Telugu Desam MPs from Seemandhra for the second time on Monday for creating “grave disorder”. Earlier, 12 MPs belonging to both the TDP and the Congress were suspended for five days.
In the Rajya Sabha too, two TDP members were suspended for the day on Monday for disrupting the House over the Telangana issue. An unprecedented scene was created in the Lok Sabha on Monday when Congress and TDP members clashed over allegations that abusive language had been used. The incident happened soon after the Speaker adjourned the House till 2 pm. Leader of the Opposition Sushma Swaraj lodged a complaint about the MPs’ behaviour with the Speaker.
As soon as the House was adjourned, Congress members Sandeep Dikshit and Madhu Yakshi Goud and TDP members N. Kristappa, M. Venugopal Reddy, K.N. Rao and N. Sivaprasad got into a verbal duel. It was alleged that both sides used abusive and unparliamentary language against each other.