New Delhi: Amidst din, chaos and an unprecedented black out of televison coverage, the bill to carve out Telangana, the 29th state, by splitting Andhra Pradesh was today passed by the Lok Sabha with Congress and BJP coming together on the issue.
The Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Bill, 2014 was adopted by a voice after Leader of the Opposition Sushma Swaraj lent support to it in a debate in which other opposition leaders had no say.
The passage of the bill, after 90 minutes of ruckus through which the clause-by-clause amendments were piloted by Home Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde, brings to fruition the process set in motion on the night of November 9, 2009 by the then Home Minister P Chidambaram.
Opposition leaders questioned the black out of live television coverage and attacked Speaker Meira Kumar's decision, which was described by many as "unprecedented".
The Lok Sabha's decision was greeted with wild celebrations in Hyderabad, the nerve-centre of Telangana and the most sought after capital by the rival region of Seemandhra, where there were were protests.
Moments after the passage, YSR Congress chief Jaganmohan Reddy, who was suspended last week for disruptions in the House, declared an AP bandh tomorrow calling the decision a "black day" for the country. Democracy has been killed in broad day light, he said.
State Chief Minister Kiran Kumar Reddy, who belongs to Congress and has been resisting the division, may resign tomorrow and float a new party, according to a close aide of his in Hyderabad.
In the light of last week's proceedings when Seemandhra MP L Rajagopal sprayed pepper and another MP broke mike 16 MPs were suspended.