The Centre’s directive to handover the powers to maintain law and order to the governor has rattled the Telangana government, which called the proposal fascist and as aggression towards a non-NDA government.
This is the second letter from the Home Ministry reminding Telangana of the provisions for such an arrangement in the Andhra Pradesh State Reorganisation Act.
The Telangana government shot back another letter to the Centre on Friday refusing to toe the line. Saying it cannot implement the norms, the government also said the governor should act according to the advice of the council of ministers.
In a day of fast events, Chief Secretary Rajiv Sharma met Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao and then drove to Raj Bhavan to meet Governor E S L Narasimhan.
Sources at the chief minister’s camp office said that a furious Rao has termed the action fascist and decided to first write to chief ministers of states not under the NDA rule with a copy of the Home Ministry’s directive.
He also decided to convene a meeting of chief ministers to explain the “nefarious” infringement into the state’s exclusive right of law and order.
As per the letter quoting the provisions of the AP Bifurcation Act 2014, the common governor of Telangana and AP will be bestowed with power to review law and order in Hyderabad region, which is a joint capital for ten years or till the period AP would like to run its government from Hyderabad, powers to transfer top police officials, establishment of a special cell to protect people of Andhra Pradesh living in Hyderabad, to deal with hate crimes and extortions and for security of vital installations.
Meanwhile, Rao’s son and Information Technology Minister K T Rama Rao described the Centre’s move as aggression and urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to reconsider the decision. Speaking here on Saturday, he said he suspected the intervention of AP Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu and Union Minister M Venkaiah Naidu behind the move.
“After Rao took over the reins of the state, there has not been a single law and order problem. On what grounds does the Home Ministry want us to hand over the powers to the governor,” he said.
