Telangana bill was passed as per rules: Government

NEW DELHI: Government today rejected criticism that "undemocratic methods" were adopted in the Lok Sabha to pass the Telangana bill, saying it was passed "as per rules".

"The (February 13) violence in Lok Sabha certainly has been a very new low. It is very unfortunate. But yesterday as per rules, the Telangana bill was passed. It was passed absolutely according to Rules. There is no complaint today," Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kamal Nath said.

He also said that all parties which supported the Bill in the Lok Sabha should support the legislation in the Rajya Sabha too.

"All those who support the bill (in Lok Sabha) should support the bill. We can't have a different situation here and a different situation there," the Minister said reacting to a query.

"It is very unfortunate that such a situation happens in elected houses," Nath said when asked about the unruly scenes witnessed in the Uttar Pradesh and Jammu and Kashmir assemblies.

Amidst din, chaos and an unprecedented black out of television coverage, the bill to carve out Telangana, the 29th state, by splitting Andhra Pradesh was yesterday passed by the Lok Sabha with Congress and BJP coming together on the issue.

The Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Bill, 2014 was adopted by a voice vote after Leader of the Opposition Sushma Swaraj lent support to it in a debate in which other opposition leaders had no say.

Parties like CPI(M) have criticised the way the Andhra Pradesh Bifurcation Bill has been adopted in the Lok Sabha.

They said that the legislation was cleared in an undemocratic way violating all norms and procedures.