Mammoth TRS meet demands bill for separate Telangana (Lead)

Warangal (Andhra Pradesh), Dec 16

A mammoth public meeting of the Telangana Rashtra Samiti (TRS) in this Andhra Pradesh town Thursday night demanded that the central government table a bill in the budget session of parliament to carve out a separate Telangana state.

A resolution passed at the meeting, which drew a sea of humanity here, urged the government to abide by its Dec 9, 2009, statement on Telangana.

"This meeting demands the government of India to table the bill in the budget session of parliament in February," said the statement read out by TRS chief K. Chandrasekhara Rao.

On Dec 9 last year, following an 11-day hunger strike by Rao, Union Home Minister P. Chidambaram had announced initiating the process for formation of a separate Telangana state.

A large crowd of people descended on this town for the TRS public meeting, which is expected to announce the roadmap for achieving a separate state of Telangana.

The town came to a standstill as all roads leading to the venue were choked with vehicles. There was a 10-km long traffic jam on the roads connecting Warangal to neighbouring districts and several TRS leaders were among those stranded.

Thousands of people gathered at a 1,000-acre open ground for the massive public meeting to mark the completion of one year of the central governments statement on the formation of a separate Telangana.

TRS leaders claimed that 2.5 million people from all 10 districts of Telangana, including Hyderabad, had turned out for the meeting, said to be the first of its kind in the country.

It was a massive show of strength by the TRS ahead of the Srikrishna Committees report to the central government on the demand for a separate Telangana state. The five-member panel is to submit its report before Dec 31.

Swami Agnivesh, TRS ideologue Jayashankar, Telangana Joint Action Committee chairman M. Kodandaram, TRS MP and former actress Vijayashanti, Jamaat-e-Islami chief of Andhra Pradesh and Orissa unit Malik Motassim Khan, leaders of students, trade unions and womens organisations were among the prominent speakers.

The public meeting was scheduled to be held Dec 9 but was postponed due to heavy rains in the state.

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Maharashtra opposition demands Deshmukhs resignation

The opposition created a ruckus in the Maharashtra assembly Thursday, the last day of its winter session, demanding Vilasrao Deshmukhs resignation from the union cabinet for favouring a legislator when he was the chief minister.

The opposition also demanded a clarification from the state government on the issue.

Opposition members trooped into the well of the house and disrupted the proceedings by shouting slogans and demanding Deshhmukhs resignation, compelling Deputy Speaker Vasant Purke to adjourn the house for 10 minutes.

After it reassembled, the opposition continued the noisy scenes and panel speaker Sadashivrao Patil again adjourned the house for half an hour.

On re-assembling, Leader of Opposition Eknath Khadse again raised the issue, alleging that Deshmukh had violated the oath of office when he asked the state police not to arrest the father of party MLA Dilip Sananda, who was engaged in the money lending business.

Khadse pointed out that Deshmukh had violated the constitutional provision of not favouring anybody and the government should make a statement on the issue.

Shiv Sena leader Subhash Desai said the Supreme Court had slapped a fine of Rs.10 lakh on the state government.

“Who will pay that fine? The financial burden would automatically fall on the taxpayers of the state,” he contended.

Defending the government, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Harshvardhan Patil said the state government had not received a certified copy of the apex court judgment, delivered last Tuesday, and hence could not comment on it.

Countering this, Bharatiya Janata Partys Devendra Phadnavis said the judgment has been posted on the official website of the Supreme Court.

Later, Patil said the government would seek the opinion of the legal department and only then would he be able to comment on the issue.

However, the opposition continued with its slogan shouting, waving placards and the house was adjourned again for another half hour.

Reacting to the developments, Deshmukh, who is union minister for heavy industries, termed the opposition protests as “political” and rejected the demand for his resignation.

Deshmukh said he had sought a certified copy of the judgment to study before reacting in the matter.

On Tuesday, the Supreme Court chided Deshmukh for shielding Congress legislator Dilip Sanandas father in a criminal case and also imposed a Rs.10 lakh fine on the state government.

Farmers had filed a police complaint alleging that family members of Sananda were involved in money lending, which is banned by law.

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