Oppn to target govt over pvt member Bill on Andhra package

AS THE monsoon session of Parliament enters the second week, the government is likely to face protests from MPS belonging to the Congress and some other opposition parties over the issue of a special package for Andhra Pradesh, for which a private member Bill was listed on Friday but could not be taken up due to disruptions in House.

Congress MPS from Andhra Pradesh indicated that the party has planned to corner the government, particularly Union minister M Venkaiah Naidu, in the Rajya Sabha over the issue.

Naidu, who is from Andhra Pradesh, had left the House before noon on Friday to catch a flight to Hyderabad.

The Congress MPS alleged that this shows that the BJP had decided at the outset that the Bill will not be allowed in the House.

Congress MP K V P Ramchandra Rao, who moved the private member Bill, said Naidu chose to be absent from the House when the Bill was being taken up although he was the among the first to demand a special package for Andhra Pradesh for 10 years — instead of five years — in February 2014, when the Andhra Pradesh Reorganization Bill was passed. Rao said he will discuss the next course of action with the party leadership on the issue.

Targeting the government, Congress Rajya Sabha MP Renuka Chaudhary told The Indian Express, “They have deliberately sabotaged the Bill. Naidu left the House before the Bill was to come up and the government deliberately sent Union minister Harsimrat Kaur Badal to rake up the Bhagwant Mann video issue in the Upper House even as the AAP MP was a Lok Sabha member.”

“This drama was done to sabotage the Bill. We will raise the issue and decide our next strategy. As per rules, the Bill can now come before the House only after three weeks,” she added.

The Bill had earlier come up for discussion in the Rajya Sabha on May 4, but it could not continue for want of quorum.

In May, Rao had written separate letters to Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu and Union Minister Venkaiah Naidu over the issue of special category status to the state, requesting them to ensure that NDA partners back the Bill.

The Congress had this time issued a whip to its members to be present in the House when the Bill is taken up for consideration and passage.

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