Chandrababu Naidu, Revanth Reddy decide upon committees to resolve bifurcation issues for states

Hyderabad: The meeting of two Telugu chief ministers that was held amid high hopes in Hyderabad on Saturday, had decided to appoint committees at three levels to find solutions to various pressing and long-pending unresolved issues between Telangana and Andhra Pradesh, which have their roots in Andhra Pradesh's 2014 bifurcation.

The first meeting in recent times between the chief ministers of Telangana and Andhra Pradesh, A Revanth Reddy and N Chandrababu Naidu, respectively, discussed a host of issues for almost two hours.

One high-level committee will have CS-level officials, three each from both states. This committee will hold a meeting in two weeks to find a solution to the bifurcation-related issues mentioned in the AP Reorganisation Act 2014.

A ministerial-level committee, comprising members from both state cabinets, will address issues that the officials committee is unable to resolve. Telangana deputy chief minister Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka stated that if these two committees fail to resolve the issue, the state chief ministers will discuss potential solutions.

Speaking to the media after the meeting, Vikramarka also said that two states will have a coordination committee to stop the transport of narcotics. Both states will also appoint another committee to monitor cybercrimes. These committees will have additional DG-level officials.

Though Vikramarka refused to divulge any details about what was discussed, sources in both governments pointed out that topics that were discussed in the meeting were related to the transfer of assets of companies specified in Schedules 9 and 10 of the State Reorganisation Act, assets not specified in the Reorganisation Act, issues related to Andhra Pradesh Financial Corporation, pending electricity bills, disbursements of debts for 15 externally aided projects of combined Andhra Pradesh, payments for expenditure incurred on joint ventures, allotment of three buildings in Hyderabad to Andhra Pradesh, labour cess remittances, and matters related to separation of government employees and river water sharing.

The issues remained unresolved as Naidu and the then Telangana chief minister, K Chandrashekar Rao, were at loggerheads between 2014 and 2019 during Naidu’s first stint as truncated Andhra Pradesh’s CM.

Political controversies, particularly the vote-for-note scandal in 2015, had cast a shadow on interstate relations. Though there were attempts to break the ice by YSRCP chief YS Jagan Mohan Reddy after the 2019 polls, relations between the two states didn’t see any progress.

After Naidu returned as Andhra CM in the recently concluded polls, he extended an olive branch to his Telangana counterpart.

Officials from both states have held at least 30 meetings since Andhra Pradesh's bifurcation, but they have not made any significant progress.