Celebrations in Hyderabad after Rajya Sabha passes Telangana bill

, Feb 20: Celebrations began in Hyderabad after the Rajya Sabha passed the much talked-about

bill amid an uproar on Thursday evening. Supporters of the Telangana Rashtra Samiti were seen bursting crackers and holding up party flags and also flaunt posters of Congress chief Sonia Gandhi. The Left and the AIADMK, however, staged a walk-out from the Upper House in the Parliament even as the bill was discussed clause by clause.

The entire day was marred by the chaos as the House was adjourned time and again. Anti-Telangana MPs tore off papers and exhibited posters in the House to disrupt the proceedings. Even the speech by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh could not be heard because of the chaos. Union minister Chiranjeevi, who is from Andhra Pradesh, even opposed his party's line on Telangana.

The Rajya Sabha passed the Telangana bill amid huge uproar

Senior BJP leader Venkaiah Naidu played a major role in the debate over the bill. He told Union Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde that Seemandhra should be given a special status for 10 years and not five years as the ruling coalition had proposed, saying that five years is too less for carrying out industrialisation in the newly formed state. Leader of the Opposition in the House Arun Jaitley also made his speech.

BJP vice-president Smriti Irani later said that it was because of the BJP that Seemandhra got a special status.

The Telangana bill was passed in the Lok Sabha behind closed doors on Tuesday.

OneIndia News