NEW DELHI: Amidst pandemonium, Lok Sabha on Tuesday passed the Telangana Bill. The telecast of the Lok Sabha had been blocked while voting for the bill was underway. Voting on clauses of the Telangana Bill took place in Lok Sabha amid the chaos.
A big controversy broke out over the move to block telecast of the proceedings, with both JD(U) and TMC objecting to the same. “Its a sad day for democracy today. This is as bad as emergency, televised debate can’t be stopped,” said Dinesh Trivedi of TMC.
“This is a peculiar way of creating a new state, have never seen this before,” said Sharad Yadav of JD(U) after walking out of Lok Sabha.
Offering “constructive” cooperation to the government on creation of a separate Telangana, BJP had earlier in the day conveyed its readiness to support the bill even in the din but not without a discussion.
Sources said BJP conveyed its stand during a meeting with Speaker Meira Kumar and Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde on passage of the bill.
Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Sushma Swaraj told the Speaker that BJP was in favour of the Telangana bill and is ready for its passage but not without a debate on the issue to put forth the party’s viewpoint.
“BJP believes both Telangana and Seemandhra can co-exist peacefully and to that end BJP has offered constructive cooperation to the government,” BJP leader Prakash Javadekar said outside Parliament.
“While creating Telangana as a separate state, government should ensure justice for Seemandhra. Because we believe that there is a need for compensation for Andhra Pradesh particularly in the first year from the consolidated fund as there will be a huge revenue loss.”
Emphasising on a special package, he said “Financial package should be offered to north coastal and Rayalseema region and backward region of Andhra. There should also be a package for creation of a separate capital.”
