By IANS,
New Delhi : The government had no option but to make a public statement on the Telangana issue even though parliament was in session because it was necessary to restore normalcy in Andhra Pradesh, Home Minister P. Chidambaram said Thursday.
“When Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) raised the issue in the house yesterday (Wednesday), the government was not in a position to respond as consultations were underway. When these consultations were complete it was very late at night and we could not brook any delay in making the announcement,” he said in the Rajya Sabha when the BJP raised the issue of propriety for the second time Thursday.
BJP leader M. Venkaiah Naidu raised the issue as soon as the house assembled Thursday saying: “The home minister was in the house yesterday (Wednesday) and he should have taken the house into confidence instead he made a statement outside.”
Amid protests from Congress members, Chairman Hamid Ansari said: “Members are well aware of the constitution. Nothing will be done without the consent of this house.”
The protest continued for five minutes before Ansari managed to restore order in the house and proceeded for question hour.
BJP had forced 15 minutes adjournment of the house on the issue Wednesday.
Following pressure and fearing for the deteriorating condition of Telangana Rashtra Samiti (TRS) chief K. Chandrasekhara Rao, who had been on a fast-unto-death for 11 days, the central government late Wednesday pledged to form a separate Telangana state carved out of 10 districts of Andhra Pradesh.