Cong may move SC over private bill seeking spl status for Andhra

Congress is considering approaching the Supreme Court on the issue of the private bill moved by its Rajya Sabha member K V P Ramachandra Rao seeking special category status for Andhra Pradesh, senior party leader Digvijaya Singh said yesterday.

Deputy Chairman of Rajya Sabha P J Kurien had earlier this month referred the issue of whether the Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation (Amendment)) Bill was a money bill or not to Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan.

"We are examining the possibility of going to the Supreme Court. Because there is already a case pending in the Supreme Court," Digvijaya told PTI, without elaborating.

He was speaking on the sidelines of a presentation organised by Telangana Congress on irrigation projects in Hyderabad.

Rajya Sabha member K V P Ramachandra Rao had moved the bill citing the assurance given by then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh that Andhra Pradesh would get special category status for five years after the bifurcation, and also the poll promises of BJP.

But it could not be put to vote in the Rajya Sabha as the treasury benches said it was a money bill, on which the Upper House can not have any say.

Meanwhile, Telangana Congress alleged that the TRS government was indulging in corruption by redesigning some important irrigation projects. State Congress chief Uttam Kumar Reddy dared the government to make detailed project reports of these projects public.