BJP's suggestions on Telangana will be considered: Jaipal

New Delhi, Jan 31: Suggestions by the

with regard to

bill are welcome and will be considered, senior

leader Jaipal Reddy said today, amid demands by the main opposition for amendments to the proposed legislation.

The Union Minister asserted that the powers to form States lies only with Parliament and whatever happened in the Andhra Pradesh Assembly will not have any binding on it.

"Any suggestions from BJP are welcome... on the floor (of Parliament) and off the floor. Naturally, when we introduce the bill we consult everybody," he told reporters here. The Cabinet will consider reasonable amendments, he said.

He was replying when asked about the demand by BJP that amendments should be made to the Telangana bill to take into account concerns of Seemandhra region.

"On every bill we consider the amendments and suggestions from opposition parties, particularly from the main opposition party," said the senior leader from Andhra Pradesh.

Reddy expressed confidence that the Telangana Bill with appropriate changes will be passed in the first week of the Parliament session beginning February 5. "We are confident about the support of all the parties that expressed their views before. We did not do anything without consulting national parties including CPI and so on," he stated.

With the Telangana Bill expected to come up in Parliament during the session next week, BJP has said it will decide on its stance after considering various views, particularly in the context of "justice" for Seemandhra region. The main opposition party, whose support will be crucial for passage of the bill in Parliament, had accused Congress of mishandling the issue and treating it as an "internal matter".

PTI