Union Cabinet clears Telangana bill for introduction in Parliament

NEW DELHI: The Union Cabinet on Friday moved a step closer to dividing Andhra Pradesh when it cleared the bill for creating Telangana state for introduction in Parliament next Wednesday.

The government plans to introduce the bill, after presidential nod, in the Rajya Sabha, with 32 amendments incorporating GoM proposals.

Friday’s Cabinet meeting rejected Seemandhra Congress ministers bid to bestow Union Territory status on Hyderabad. However, the Cabinet has gifted Seemandhra with a big development package and 10 villages of the Bhadrachalam division for the sake of the Polavaram project. The Cabinet opted to go by the original proposal of making Hyderabad the joint capital of Seemandhra and Telangana for 10 years, with the governor to be in charge of law and order of the region.

The development package for Seemandhra, as proposed by the Group of Ministers, includes a time-bound central development fund, watersharing arrangements, financial assistance for building a new capital and quick clearance of funds by the Finance Commission.

The Cabinet decision to reject Seemandhra’s demand for a UT status to Hyderabad indicated that the Congress leadership had made a political call to reinforce its Telangana base ahead of the Lok Sabha polls, with an alliance or merger with TRS looking likely, while risking the loss of Seemandhra to Jagan Mohan Reddy’s YSR Congress.

Before the Cabinet met on Friday evening, many Telangana Congress leaders, key AICC functionaries and Union ministers conveyed to Sonia Gandhi that the leadership must stand firm to protect its best possible electoral bet, Telangana, by rejecting the Seemandhra side’s compromise formula for a UT status for Hyderabad. Union ministers from Seemandhra — Pallam Raju and KS Rao — made a final appeal at the Cabinet meeting to grant UT status to Hyderabad with a revenue-sharing arrangement. But the Cabinet rejected the demand. Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar, who had earlier made a strong pitch for Telangana, questioned whether the law and order powers being given to Governor were according to the Constitution. Although he endorsed the Bill, he wanted to know what was being done for the new capital of Seemandhra, a source said. He was told all the cost would be borne by the Centre.

Soon after the Cabinet meeting, which lasted for nearly two hours, a meeting of the Congress core committee too was held to thrash out an action plan, including the road map to get the bill passed. BJP has taken the stand that it would not allow the bill to be passed by forcing protesting MPs out of the House.