'Stormy' budget session on cards
HYDERABAD: With the Opposition ready to claim its pound of flesh, the Andhra Pradesh government is finding itself on the defensive ahead of the Budget session of the state legislature beginning tomorrow.
There seems little comfort for Chief Minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy as some of his Cabinet colleagues and Congress legislators are inimical to him.
However, the ruling party could have a solace from the opposition which appears fragmented owing to different sets of interest.
Unlike in the past, the opposition looks disunited as the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) has been engaged in a bitter war of words with separatist Telangana Rashtra Samiti (TRS).
Of late, the two Left parties, which have only minimal strength in the House, have not been maintaining a cozy relationship with TDP led by N Chandrababu Naidu.
But, the TDP and the Left could find a common ground on issues like growing presence of "liquor mafia" in the state, farmers' travails, drought and power crisis to put Kiran Kumar Reddy government on mat.
As far as TRS is concerned, it is likely to remain stuck to its stand on carving out separate Telangana. TRS will press for a resolution in the Assembly seeking separate statehood notwithstanding its strength in the House.
The 12-member group has announced its resolve to stall the House till its demand over separate Telangana was conceded to.
Apart from the opposition parties, the Congress will also have to contend with 16 rebel MLAs in its ranks, who are loyal to YSR Congress.
Against the backdrop of the Assembly Speaker Nadendla Manohar putting off the decision on disqualification of the legislators, along with that of a lone Praja Rajyam Party member, the 17 MLAs, loyal to Jagan Mohan Reddy, will seek to act as a separate group in the House and corner the government on many issues.
Incidentally, the 17-member PRP, led by the actor-turned-politician and Tirupati MLA K Chiranjeevi, will continue to be recognised as a separate party in the House as the "technical formalities" related to its merger with Congress have not been completed yet.
The government has appointed a Chief Whip and five Whips to effectively counter the opposition in the House but, ironically, not one of them is known to possess the required combative skill.
The Budget session will begin tomorrow with an address at 9.30 am by Governor E S L Narasimhan to the joint sitting of the Legislative Assembly and the Legislative Council.
Elaborate security measures, including an extra podium, have been put in place in the old Legislature building for the Governor's address.
The Budget for the financial year 2012-13 will be tabled in the Assembly on February 17.
The Business Advisory Committee of the Assembly will meet at 11 am to finalise the business agenda for the session.
News Posted: 12 February, 2012
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