Hyderabad: A political slugfest broke out during the Lok Sabha debate on the delimitation bill on Thursday after remarks by Karnataka BJP MP Tejasvi Surya triggered a strong backlash from Telangana leaders, reigniting sensitivities associated with bifurcation of united Andhra Pradesh.During the discussion, Surya criticised the former UPA govt’s legacy, claiming the bifurcation of united Andhra Pradesh was handled in a far more reckless manner than the British managed the India-Pakistan division during Independence. His remarks drew immediate and sharp reactions from both Congress and BRS in Telangana, with BC welfare minister Ponnam Prabhakar demanding cancellation of his Lok Sabha membership.Surya also took aim at Telangana chief minister A Revanth Reddy, dismissing his GSDP-based formula for delimitation as “laughable at best”. He said that he did not know who advised Revanth, adding that people of Telangana were finding humour in the proposal.Accusing opposition parties of misleading southern states on delimitation bill, Surya argued that they were merely seeking ways to delay the implementation of women’s reservations.“The Congress has a terrible legacy from the UPA era. The bifurcation of Andhra Pradesh created numerous problems,” he said.He further questioned the logic of linking delimitation to economic parameters, ridiculing the idea of using states’ annual income as a basis for representation. He said that if representation were determined by income, then someone like industrialist Ambani, with the highest earnings, would end up getting a million votes.Reacting strongly, Ponnam said the MP was objecting to the creation of Telangana, which was carried out through a legally valid parliamentary process.“He has displayed his immense arrogance and ignorance with his comments,” the minister said, while also questioning the silence of Telangana BJP leaders.“Why are Kishan Reddy (Union minister) and the others silent on this issue?” he asked, urging them to clarify their stand.Ponnam has written to DGP B Shivadhar Reddy to take action on Surya for his remarks.Seeking to defuse the controversy, Telangana BJP chief N Ramchander Rao later said there was no need to overinterpret Surya’s remarks.“BRS and Congress are making an unnecessary issue. He might have tried to point out that there were technical errors in the bifurcation of united AP,” Rao said.
