Hyderabad: Accusing the Centre of trivialising the state bifurcation process by taking “shortcut routes” without doing any “homework”, Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy tonight demanded that the “established practises and conventions” be followed by first referring the issue to the state Assembly for “appropriate resolution”.
Centre should “initiate steps to bring in peace and harmony and create a congenial atmosphere” before taking further steps, he said, alleging it was “ignoring majority people’s opinion” in the entire process.
“Pursuing the division process, without doing any homework by Government of India, is creating anxiety and apprehensions in the minds of majority of the population.
“People are upset with the way decisions are being taken and the process being pushed through ignoring all conventions and procedures apart from official statements made by Union Ministers on behalf of the Government of India.
“Strong belief is gaining ground that Government of India is ignoring majority people’s opinion,” the Chief Minister said in a three-page letter addressed separately to President Pranab Mukherjee and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Friday.
The Centre added fuel to the fire by bringing the Cabinet Note for creation of new state as “table item”, he said, adding that an important item having serious implications for crores of people was thus trivialised.
The note was brought before Cabinet meeting apparently waiving due consultation process with the related ministries in a hurried manner on the pretext that the composition of Group of Ministers covers all the important ministries that are expected to be consulted, the Chief Minister said.
“To our shock, the subsequent orders issued by the Cabinet Secretariat excluded the crucial ministries like Water Resources, Urban Development, Power, HRD and also Planning Commission that were listed in the Cabinet Note circulated.
“All these shortcuts are raising doubts in the minds of people about the fairness of the process and justness of actions.
“The minimum we expect from the Government of India is to follow the established practises and conventions and, as a first step, refer the matter to the State Assembly for appropriate resolution,” the letter said. (PTI)