Luncheon diplomacy: PM meets BJP leaders over Telangana bill
13 Feb 2014 12:04 AM GMT
Singh, in an attempt to bring a consensus on the issue which has seen repeated disruptions in the Parliament, has invited LK Advani, Rajnath Singh, Sushma Swaraj and Arun Jaitley at his residence and had a discussion with them for the passage of bill.
Union ministers – AK Antony, P Chidambaram, Kamal Nath and Sushil Kumar Shinde – were also present during the meeting and all of them were reportedly expressed satisfaction over the fruitful result of the meeting with the leaders of opposition.
In the meeting, which lasted for nearly hour-and-a-half, the top party leaders told the Prime Minister that they are ready to support the Telangana bill but a special ‘package’ should be given for the development of Seemandhra region.
‘Our stand on Telangana has not changed and we have repeatedly said that our party is not against the Telangana. All we want that Seemandhra region should be allocated with special packages for social and economic betterment of the people living in the region,’ a party source said.
The BJP leaders asked the government to ‘put its own house in order’ as Congress MPs are also disrupting the Parliament. Sources said, ‘Some of the key legislations, including the communal violence Bill and anti-corruption Bill that are pending in Parliament, were also discussed in the meeting. At present we are not committing anything over these two bills.’
It was learnt that the Prime Minister has assured that a package for the Seemandhra region will be allocated.
Meanwhile, the central ministers opposed to the Telangana and have created an unprecedented chaos in the Lok Sabha on Wednesday. With the pandemonium, the Railway minister Mallikarjun Kharge with no other option had to cut short his railway budget speech.
As soon as Lok Sabha met, pro and anti-Telangana members rushed to the Well holding placards in support of their demands.
DMK members demanded a probe and a resolution by the UN Human Rights Commission against the Sri Lankan government for violating the rights of Tamils in the island country.
Speaker Meira Kumar asked urban development minister Kamal Nath to table his reply to a starred question and adjourned the proceedings for an hour amid din.
In the Rajya Sabha, TDP and Congress member from Seemandhra and AIADMK members were standing in the Well even before Rajya Sabha Chairman Hamid Ansari began proceedings.
TDP members carrying ‘Save Andhra Pradesh’ banners and the lone Congress member with ‘We Want United Andhra Pradesh’ posters positioned themselves right before Ansari’s Chair.
Party MLA taking on Venkaiah over Telangana irks BJP chief Rajnath Singh
New Delhi: Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) national president Rajnath Singh has expressed his annoyance over party MLA from Mahbubnagar in Andhra Pradesh, Yennam Srinivas Reddy’s revolt against another party leader M Venkaiah Naidu in connection with the bifurcation of Andhra Pradesh. Recently, Reddy had demanded that Naidu should clarify if he was talking in his capacity as a national leader or as a representative of Seemandhra.
Taking serious note of the comments made by Reddy, party president had directed G Kishan Reddy, state BJP presidnet to take appropriate action against the MLA. Later Reddy apologized for his comments. ‘I have asked the state president that there was no need to take any action against the MLA because he has released his mistakes and regretted it publicly. I would like to instruct the State President to ensure that party leaders should refrain from making inappropriate and unwarranted comments in public,’ Singh said.
Singh has also taken note of the comments reportedly made by P Chandrasekhar, BJP national executive member for defending the MLA. He has sought a report from the state president on this issue.
Union ministers – AK Antony, P Chidambaram, Kamal Nath and Sushil Kumar Shinde – were also present during the meeting and all of them were reportedly expressed satisfaction over the fruitful result of the meeting with the leaders of opposition.
In the meeting, which lasted for nearly hour-and-a-half, the top party leaders told the Prime Minister that they are ready to support the Telangana bill but a special ‘package’ should be given for the development of Seemandhra region.
‘Our stand on Telangana has not changed and we have repeatedly said that our party is not against the Telangana. All we want that Seemandhra region should be allocated with special packages for social and economic betterment of the people living in the region,’ a party source said.
The BJP leaders asked the government to ‘put its own house in order’ as Congress MPs are also disrupting the Parliament. Sources said, ‘Some of the key legislations, including the communal violence Bill and anti-corruption Bill that are pending in Parliament, were also discussed in the meeting. At present we are not committing anything over these two bills.’
It was learnt that the Prime Minister has assured that a package for the Seemandhra region will be allocated.
Meanwhile, the central ministers opposed to the Telangana and have created an unprecedented chaos in the Lok Sabha on Wednesday. With the pandemonium, the Railway minister Mallikarjun Kharge with no other option had to cut short his railway budget speech.
As soon as Lok Sabha met, pro and anti-Telangana members rushed to the Well holding placards in support of their demands.
DMK members demanded a probe and a resolution by the UN Human Rights Commission against the Sri Lankan government for violating the rights of Tamils in the island country.
Speaker Meira Kumar asked urban development minister Kamal Nath to table his reply to a starred question and adjourned the proceedings for an hour amid din.
In the Rajya Sabha, TDP and Congress member from Seemandhra and AIADMK members were standing in the Well even before Rajya Sabha Chairman Hamid Ansari began proceedings.
TDP members carrying ‘Save Andhra Pradesh’ banners and the lone Congress member with ‘We Want United Andhra Pradesh’ posters positioned themselves right before Ansari’s Chair.
Party MLA taking on Venkaiah over Telangana irks BJP chief Rajnath Singh
New Delhi: Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) national president Rajnath Singh has expressed his annoyance over party MLA from Mahbubnagar in Andhra Pradesh, Yennam Srinivas Reddy’s revolt against another party leader M Venkaiah Naidu in connection with the bifurcation of Andhra Pradesh. Recently, Reddy had demanded that Naidu should clarify if he was talking in his capacity as a national leader or as a representative of Seemandhra.
Taking serious note of the comments made by Reddy, party president had directed G Kishan Reddy, state BJP presidnet to take appropriate action against the MLA. Later Reddy apologized for his comments. ‘I have asked the state president that there was no need to take any action against the MLA because he has released his mistakes and regretted it publicly. I would like to instruct the State President to ensure that party leaders should refrain from making inappropriate and unwarranted comments in public,’ Singh said.
Singh has also taken note of the comments reportedly made by P Chandrasekhar, BJP national executive member for defending the MLA. He has sought a report from the state president on this issue.
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