With Chief Minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy sitting in dharna at Delhi’s Jantar Mantar on Wednesday (February 5), Congress and Telugu Desam Party MPs moving a no-confidence motion against the Manmohan Singh Government on Thursday (February 6) and the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha getting adjourned for the day, it is obvious that resolution of the vexed issue of a separate Telangana will have to wait another day. Instead of subjecting the nation to a daily drama leading to disruption of one or both Houses of Parliament, the UPA should simply present the Vote on Account and leave all contentious issues to the wisdom and ability of the next Government. It is unwise for a lame duck regime to initiate such a momentous and contentious move in its last Parliamentary session, when the Election Commission is on the verge of announcing the schedule for the next general election.
Once the Andhra Pradesh Legislative Assembly voted against bifurcation of the State by full majority on January 30, 2014, it was improper of the Congress-led UPA to try to ram the division through Parliament. This is blatantly unconstitutional, and has the dangerous potential to unleash violence in the State, putting the lives and security of ordinary citizens and their properties in peril.
Under Article 3 of the Constitution, Parliament can form new States or alter the names or boundaries of existing States, “Provided that no Bill for the purpose shall be introduced in either House of Parliament except on the recommendation of the President and unless, where the proposal contained in the Bill affects the area, boundaries or name of any of the States, the Bill has been referred by the President to the Legislature of that State for expressing its views thereon within such period as may be specified in the reference or within such further period as the President may allow and the period so specified or allowed has expired”.
In the case of Telangana, the President referred the proposal to the State on December 12, 2013, to be decided within a period of six weeks, which was further extended up to January 30, 2014. The Andhra Pradesh Assembly rejected the Bill and sent it back to the President with an appeal not to refer it to Parliament for passing. Since Andhra Pradesh is a special State under the Seventh Schedule of the Constitution (since 1974, via the 32nd Constitution Amendment Act 1973), the UPA’s attempt to move the Andhra Pradesh Reorganization Bill, 2013 to create Telangana State despite the Andhra Pradesh Legislative Assembly rejecting the proposal on January 30, is counter-productive.
Further, under Article 368 of the Constitution, any amendment of the Seventh Schedule needs to be ratified by the Legislatures of not less than one-half of the States by resolutions to that effect passed by those Legislatures before the Bill making provision for such amendment is presented to the President for assent. It is difficult to see how UPA was going to accomplish this feat. Perhaps this is why President Pranab Mukherjee, in his address to the nation on the eve of Republic Day, cautioned against the tendency to bifurcate States for electoral gains in the name of extending equitable development to all parts of a state; the “politics of divide and rule has extracted a heavy price on our subcontinent”, he said.
It is pertinent that after Potti Sriramulu’s fast-unto-death for the creation of a separate linguistic State of Andhra Pradesh for the Telugu-speaking people of the erstwhile Madras Presidency, few Indians have been able to understand the rationale for dividing the linguistic State. The Justice Srikrishna Report found no glaring disparities between any of the regions of Andhra Pradesh on the parameters of education, employment or development, and there is growing realisation that the demand is motivated by politicians who want to carve out fiefdoms in the name of smaller states. This goes against the logic of integration accomplished by Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel who wove over 1548 small kingdoms into the Union of India.
After the Union Cabinet approved the bifurcation of Andhra Pradesh and President Pranab Mukherjee sent the Bill to the State Legislative Assembly to discuss under Article 3 of the Constitution; it was tabled in the Assembly on December 16, 2013. As many as 86 Members participated in the debate and most submitted their views in writing and which form part of the official record.
Chief Minister Kiran Reddy moved the resolution seeking rejection of the AP Reorganisation Bill, 2013, on grounds that it “seeks to bifurcate the state of Andhra Pradesh without any reason/basis and without arriving at a consensus, in utter disregard to the linguistic and cultural homogeneity and economic and administrative viability of both regions. The Bill also completely ignores the very basis of formation of State of Andhra Pradesh, the first linguistic state created in independent India”.
But the very next day, January 31, 2014, Union Home Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde issued a press statement asserting that the Telangana statehood Bill would be passed in the Budget Session of Parliament. This was despite the fact that the Andhra Pradesh Assembly members had proposed over 9,000 amendments to the Bill – an eloquent way of rubbishing the proposed legislation.
Andhra MPs disrupted Parliament on Thursday (February 6, 2014), and forced adjournment over the issue of the AP Reorganisation Bill 2013. The UPA is now planning to table the Bill on Monday, February 10. But President Pranab Mukherjee has not recommended the Bill to the Government after it was returned to him by the State Assembly, with a rejection note. Under Article 3, the President cannot recommend the bill to Parliament in opposition to the wishes and resolution of the State Assembly. It is therefore a mystery what the Congress, which is the driving force behind these moves, hopes to accomplish by rushing towards so many implacable barriers.
Niticentral.com, 6 February 2014
http://www.niticentral.com/2014/02/06/on-telangana-congress-is-a-house-divided-187523.html