Union minister Raju backs Andhra CM over Telangana Bill move

Rajahmundry (

), Jan 27: Union Minister and Congress leader M M Pallam Raju today came out in support of Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister

, whose act of moving a resolution in the Assembly seeking to return the

Bill to the Centre has triggered a controversy.

The Chief Minister has termed the Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Bill-2013, which envisages creation of a separate Telangana State, as "incomprehensive" and sought that it be returned to the Centre. Kiran has proposed a resolution to return the Bill to the Centre, a move which has angered Congress Ministers and MLAs from Telangana region.

Raju, who comes from coastal Andhra, said Reddy hasn't done anything wrong

Raju, who hails from coastal Andhra, said Kiran has done no wrong. "The Chief Minister wrote a letter to the Speaker stating that there were some deficiencies in it (Bill) and requested him to send it back to the President. There was nothing wrong in it."

The AP Assembly is currently debating the Bill. Ministers from Telangana today joined fellow MLAs across party lines to stall Assembly proceedings in a bid to preempt the proposed resolution. Andhra Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister Damodar Rajanarasimha on Monday sought the immediate resignation of Reddy for trying to move a resolution in the assembly to stall the formation of Telangana state.

The deputy chief minister, who hails from Telangana, said he would meet Governor E S L Narasimhan to demand the chief minister's ouster.

Rajanarasimha said Reddy had lost the confidence of the ministers from Telangana.

PTI