AP: It is a free-for-all zone

HYDERABAD: Vijayawada MP Lagadapati Rajagopal’s assertion that deletion of Clause 14 (F) of the Presidential Order is not possible has stirred a hornet’s nest with Telangana leaders seeking to haul him up before the Assembly.The T leaders on Wednesday submitted a privilege notice to Assembly Speaker Nadendla Manohar urging him to consider the MP’s remarks as being against the Assembly and take appropriate action. The Assembly had adopted a resolution for the deletion of the controversial clause, they said.Among those who met the Speaker were E Damodar Reddy (Congress), Etela Rajender (TRS), G Mallesh (CPI) and E Lakshminarayana (BJP). Later speaking to reporters, Damodar Reddy said, “We will ask the Lok Sabha Speaker to disqualify Lagadapati for insulting Parliamentary democracy.” The vocal MP, who has a penchant for controversies, responded in kind to the latest salvo from the T men. “I am a member of the Lok Sabha. The Assembly resolution is not binding on me,” he said. “There are certain rules and regulations to give a privilege notice. First, the Assembly should be in session.I will react if the TRS leaders give notice when the House is in session,” said Rajagopal who found the T leaders’ move ridiculous.He also provoked the T leaders on the issue of bifurcation of the State. “The Congress has never said it will carve out a Telangana state.It has merely said it will take an appropriate decision at an appropriate time,” he told reporters in Delhi.He felt there ought to be a scientific mechanism to divide a state and recalled that the Centre had wanted the State Assembly to adopt a resolution favouring a separate State. “I have never opposed such a resolution. I had only said the T-resolution would be defeated by 225 votes in the Assembly,” he reminded.He also wanted a secret ballot on the resolution so that members could cast their vote with a free conscience.“Even if the Assembly adopts it, it is up to the Centre to either accept or reject it,” he said.