We Can’t Force People to Live Together: President Pranab

President Pranab Mukherjee, perhaps for the first time after becoming the Head of State, aired his views albeit indirectly on the Telangana issue. Speaking in New Delhi on Thursday before flying down to Hyderabad for his Southern sojourn, he said it was difficult to make people, who are keen on having a separate State of their own, live with the rest.

His remarks came like a bolt from the blue for some Seemandhra lawmakers, who had been pinning their hopes on him to stall State division.

Raising Constitutional questions, they had hoped Pranab Mukherjee, a stickler for rules, would come in the way of the Telangana process. The President, in his brief remarks on separate State demands, however, cautioned the government to “act with wisdom both politically and administratively while creating new States.”

Considering the growing population and their needs, it was not possible to make all the people stay at one place or State, he opined and acknowledged that a number of demands for creation of new States were coming to the fore across the country. The President made these significant remarks during the annual endowment lecture of the Intelligence Bureau (IB) in the morning. Later in the evening, he arrived in Hyderabad for his winter stay.

He was received by Chief Minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy, Governor ESL Narasimhan, Deputy Chief Minister C Damodar Rajanarasimha and other dignitaries at the Hakimpet Air Base. The President will stay at the Rashtrapati Nilayam at Bolarum till December 31.

Union Home Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde on Thursday said the Telangana Bill would be introduced in Parliament in its next session. Speaking to reporters in Delhi on the sidelines of the 26th Intelligence Bureau (IB) Centenary Endowment Lecture-2013, Shinde said the UPA government was determined to table the T Bill as well as the Prevention of Communal Violence Bill in the next session of Parliament. The Centre is likely to hold a special session of Parliament in the last week of January.

Source: New Indian Express