Parliament nod for AP Bill

• Rajya Sabha passes the Bill by voice vote
  
• LS had already passed it
  
• Bill now goes to Prez for assent
  
• Rajnath Singh rejects charge of Violation of Statute
  
• K Keshav Rao moves the Statutory Resolution which was rejected by the House
  
• Rajnath praises Jairam for supporting the Bill

New Delhi: The Andhra Pradesh Reorganization (Amendment) Bill, 2014, got parliamentary nod, after the Rajya Sabha passed it on Monday. Earlier it was passed by the Lok Sabha. Now the Bill goes to the President for Assent, giving statutory effect to the transfer of 7 mandals in Khammam district in Telangana to Andhra Pradesh.

At the end of a surcharged debate, the Statutory Resolution moved by TRS MP K Keshav Rao was rejected by voice-vote. Then the Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation (Amendment) Bill, 2014, was put to vote and passed by voice-vote.

In his reply to the debate, Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh rejected the charge of violation of Constitutional norms by bringing the Bill. It was only after the President’s recommendation that it was brought to Parliament. Rplying to the queries on why the Ordinance, Rajnath Singh said it was necessitated because Telangana and Andhra Pradesh had not come into being, as Appointed Day was on June 2. Besides, there was President’s Rule there. In such a scenario, Parliament alone had the powers. The Home Minister said with great sensitivity, the Government would address the issue of resettlement and rehabilitation. Politics need not always be for political gain or loss, but it should also be in the spirit of nation-building, he said.

Rajnath Singh said Polavaram Project was a Central project and it was for the Centre to worry about the resettlement and rehabilitation of the displaced persons, especially the Adivasis. He also referred to the undivided Andhra Pradesh affidavit in the Supreme Court that protective embankment would be built. All measures would be taken in this regard, he assured. On the demand for more talks, the Home Minister said the issues involved had been elaborately discussed back and forth and even the undivided Andhra Pradesh Assembly had discussed it.

Rajnath Singh praised Jairam Ramesh for his speech and felt that it augurs well for a healthy democracy. It is a sign that besides being world’s largest, it is the healthiest and the finest democracy.

After Palvai Goverdhan Reddy (Cong) refused to move the Statutory Resolution, TRS MP K Keshav Rao, the co-sponsor, moved it, “That this House disapproves the Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation (Amendment) Ordinance, 2014, (No.04 of 2014) promulgated by the President on May 29, 2014.”

Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh then moved the Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation (Amendment) Bill, 2014. In his brief introductory remarks, he said on February 20, the Rajya Sabha passed the Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Bill, 2014, after it was passed on February 18 in the Lok Sabha. Subsequently it was found necessary to reorganise the territories ahead of the Appointed Day on June 2. This urgency prompted the government to come up with the Ordinance. The Ram Temple in Bhadrachalam and the road leading to it remain with Telangana. Former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had assured the Rajya Sabha that if any amendments were needed the same would be carried out, he said.