Telangana Bill may be deferred, hints Union minister Jairam Ramesh

NEW DELHI: Uncertainty hangs over statehood for Telangana with Union minister Jairam Ramesh saying the government should not push through the contentious bill in the midst of a din or without discussion.

Rural development minister Ramesh told a news channel, "Such a far-reaching bill should be discussed and debated in Parliament and should not be pushed through in a cacophony or protests of a violent nature that are taking place in Parliament."

Coming a day ahead of the government's likely attempt to seek a discussion on the Telangana Bill on Monday, the comment raises questions about the fate of the bill should the protests resurface in Lok Sabha. The lower House was rocked by violence when the bill was introduced on Thursday, leading to the suspension of 16 Andhra MPs cutting across party lines.

While a majority of the anti-T contingent is out of Lok Sabha now, textiles minister K S Rao has indicated that those remaining would continue the protests should the division of Andhra Pradesh be taken up.

As many as eight anti-Telangana MPs including ministers are still in the House after escaping suspension.

In case of continuing protests, the best option for Congress would be to push the bill through in the din. But Ramesh's statement, widely echoed by top Congress managers, seems to take that possibility out of the equation.

Congress is in an unenviable position on Telangana. Ending up on the wrong side of the Seemandhra sentiment after announcing its decision to divide AP and post-Jaganmohan Reddy's revolt, the ruling party needs the support of Telangana electorate to salvage some of its tally in the 42-seat southern state that has one-sidedly favoured Congress in the last two elections.

With 25 seats in Seemandhra and 17 in Telangana, Congress's statehood gambit was aimed at strengthening its position in the latter.

A failure to clinch statehood would weaken the Congress position in Telangana. In that situation, sources said a tie-up with Telangana Rashtra Samithi would be unlikely, which would handicap its efforts to woo the voters. Without Telangana, the Congress plans to go to polls by telling voters that it had shown its commitment to statehood by bringing the bill in Parliament but was undone by BJP's betrayal.

Congress believes it is in for a rout in Seemandhra and only a few MPs who have a personal base in the region are being seen as able contenders.