Fire extinguishers and blankets will be kept ready. The visitors’ gallery will be cleared in Lok Sabha and the movements of Andhra Pradesh MPs will be closely monitored on Thursday when home minister Sushilkumar Shinde finally introduces the controversial bill to create Telangana in the lower house.
Parliament secretariat is taking unprecedented precautions as there are intelligence reports that protesters may jump into the LS at the time of the introduction of the bill.
The UPA floor managers and the parliament secretariat are also worried that some MPs may take daring steps — like self-immolation — to protest against the current bill."We also have to take precaution to tackle such a situation," said an official.
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The Union cabinet met on Wednesday to clear, once again, the Andhra Pradesh reorganization bill. The cabinet had earlier cleared the bill for introduction in Rajya Sabha. RS entry for the bill would have kept it alive even if it fails to get passed during this session.
The government, however, has rejected the possibility of bringing a constitution amendment bill to create Telangana. Although it conceded that the legislation is a ‘money bill’ that requires introduction only in Lok Sabha, the union law ministry replied to Lok Sabha secretariat to explain why this bill does not require a constitutional amendment. The government now plans to pass the bill through a simple majority.
READ: Turmoil in Rajya Sabha over Telangana
The government, however, has rejected the possibility of bringing a constitution amendment bill to create Telangana. Although it conceded that the legislation is a ‘money bill’ that requires introduction only in Lok Sabha, the union law ministry replied to Lok Sabha secretariat to explain why this bill does not require a constitutional amendment. The government now plans to pass the bill through a simple majority.
READ: Turmoil in Rajya Sabha over Telangana
A government source also added, “Jharkhand, Uttarakhand and Chhattisgarh were created through an ordinary legislation and not by a constitutional amendment bill that requires two-third support in both Houses.”
Home minister Sushilkumar Shinde had recently met President Pranab Mukherjee and vice-president Hamid Ansari to appraise them on the Telangana Bill.