Leave Telangana decision to the people, says Chief Minister N. Kiran Kumar Reddy

 Chief Minister N. Kiran Kumar Reddy has asked the UPA government to wait till the general elections for the Telugu-speaking people to give their mandate on bifurcation of Andhra Pradesh.

The Chief Minister sought to know why the Centre was in a hurry to complete the process of bifurcation. “You have waited for so many years. Why can’t you wait for another two months? Let the Telugu-speaking people have the liberty to give their decision on whether they want united AP or division,” he said. Striking an aggressive posture while addressing a press conference here on Sunday, he was critical of the Centre and the Congress party’s central leadership for their undue haste in dividing the State and claimed that the resolution adopted in the two Houses of the AP legislature was unanimous.

“No member sought division of votes and hence it is unanimous resolution. The Bill was defeated thoroughly. We will have to wait and see how President Pranab Mukherjee takes into consideration rejection of the resolution. He will send the Bill to Parliament only if he is satisfied”, he said.
‘The ultimate weapon’

Stating that the resolution adopted in the legislature would be his government’s ‘ultimate weapon’, Mr. Reddy made light of the criticism that voice vote would not make any difference in division of the State. He reminded his critics that in democracy whether it is in Parliament or the Assembly, several Bills had been passed by voice vote. “Lok Pal, Food Security and other Bills seeking to create new States of Jharkhand, Uttarakhand and Chhattisgarh were passed by voice vote,” he reminded.

“If the rejection of resolution was a non-issue, why are the senior leaders reacting in haste?” he sought to know.

“No new State has been created after a resolution was defeated in the State legislature,” he said adding that those arguing that the resolution was a waste paper were ignorant of its importance.

Mr. Kiran Reddy said he had taken a vow during the inauguration of the Pulichintala project that the AP Reorganisation Bill would be defeated when it is taken up for voting. “We have kept our promise,” he said pointing out that his concern was to keep the State united.

Keywords: N. Kiran Kumar Reddy, UPA government, Telangana statehood, A.P. bifurcation, United Andhra protests, Kiran Kumar Reddy government, Kiran protest, Andhra Pradesh political crisis