Jagan meets KCR invites him for swearing in ceremony

Making a political statement about cordial relations with sibling state of Telangana, the chief minister-elect of Andhra Pradesh Y S Jaganmohan Reddy has met Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao on Saturday, and has invited him to the swearing-in ceremony slated for May 30 in Amaravati.

Jagan will leave for Delhi on Sunday to meet the Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Delhi.

Jagan’s meeting with KCR with whom his predecessor Chandrababu Naidu maintained adverse relations, acquired importance as there are several pending issues to be resolved between the two Telugu states. Sharing of river water and division of fixed assets top the list of such unresolved issues.

AP claims that it should get around Rs 70,000 crore from Telangana towards the settlement of fixed assets. Telangana has reservations about submergence due to Polavaram multipurpose irrigation project. Telangana has also demanded control over the existing irrigation projects such as Srisailam and like Nagarjuna Sagar.

Soon after being elected leader of the 151-member strong YSR Congress legislature party, Jagan flew down to Hyderabad and submitted the letter to Governor ESL Narasmihan with the list of elected MLAs so that the Governor can invite him to form the government. From Raj Bhavan, he proceeded to Pragathi Bhavan, the official residence of KCR.

Besides inviting him to his swearing-in ceremony, Jagan is said to have discussed various issues concerning the two states. KCR received Jagan and his wife Bharati with a warm welcome, offered him a sweet and even hugged him with affection.

“Jagan will adopt a give and take approach as both the state and centre have comfortable majorities and no need for confrontation. Jagan wants friendly ties with the neighbours. Overcoming the hurdles for development is his priority”, says YSRCP senior leader Ummareddi Venkateswarlu.

Jagan made it clear that he will continue his efforts to secure Special Category Status for AP. At the first meeting of the YSRCP Parliamentary Party on Saturday, Jagan exhorted that each of the 22 MPs to put in efforts towards this. Party sources said he would discuss the issue with PM Narendra Modi when he meets him on Sunday noon.