The Andhra Pradesh Legislative Assembly will meet from Friday to take up the discussion on the Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Bill 2013.

With the President giving time till January 23 for the State Assembly to express its views on the Bill, the discussion on the various provisions of the Bill will be watched with keenness by the people of both Telangana and Seemandhra.

The very idea of division has created acrimony between the two regions with those in the Seemandhra region, to where Chief Minister N. Kiran Kumar Reddy belongs, along with members of Telugu Desam Party and YSR Congress Party from the region, opposed to the separation.

The brief winter session of the Assembly held in December 2013 could not transact any business with representatives from both regions remaining steadfast on their demands. When the T-Bill was tabled, some members tore them apart and a few others burnt the copies.

Portfolio change In a sudden move late Tuesday night, the State Legislative Affairs Minister D. Sridhar Babu was divested of the portfolio and it was allocated to S.Sailajanath, a vocal integrationist.

This development was received with concern by legislators from Telangana. Some of them on Wednesday met with State Governor, E.S.L. Narasimhan, and represented to him about their concerns about the sudden removal of Sridhar Babu as Legislative Affairs Minister. They have stated to have expressed their concern about the Chief Minister and leader of the House behaving in a partisan manner.

The move to remove Sridhar Babu and replace him with Sailajanath is seen to trigger another round of flashpoint between those in favour of formation of Telangana and those against it.

President Pranab Mukherjee during his winter sojourn at the end of December was kept busy by visitors from pro and anti-Telangana movement leaders who petitioned him.

rishikumar.vundi@thehindu.co.in

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