PM asks governor to bring about 'chill' between AP-Telangana

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has intervened in the ongoing battle between the two warring chief ministers, N Chandrababu Naidu of Andhra Pradesh and K Chandrasekhar Rao of Telangana, and has entrusted the task of bringing about “a calm and chill atmosphere" to Governor ESL Narasimhan, it is reliably learnt.

Already embroiled in Sushma Swaraja and Vasundhara Raje controversies, the Bharatiya Janata Party-led Union 
government does not want to get caught in a petty fight between two regional parties. 

BJP insiders feel that the Telugu Desam Party, whose lawmaker Revanth Reddy was caught on camera in an alleged cash for vote scam, should resolve the issue locally than to bring it to Delhi. With Telangana’s Anti Corruption Bureau initiating a case against Reddy, the TDP was quick to file counter FIRs against KCR.

The Centre has told the governor to form a Special Investigation Team to probe the case in the interest of peace and tranquility in the two states as well as Hyderabad.

To get the TDP, a partner in the National Democratic Alliance, wriggle out of the controversy, a "via media" has been adopted by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley. 

Accordingly, Narasimhman, who is governor of both the states, will invoke his special powers and directly take charge of the investigations into the bribery and telephone-tapping scandal that has rocked Hyderabad for the past several weeks; and the TDP will not drag the office of the governor into the controversy.

The Prime Minister’s Office has directed Union Home Secretary L C Goyal to ensure that the two chief secretaries and directors general of police are advised to take instructions from the governor as for as the law and order situation in Hyderabad is concerned.

The Centre has also armed itself with the legal opinion of Attorney General Mukul Rohtagi that the governor should invoke Section 8 of the Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Act, 2014, which gives special powers to the latter for the ‘security of life, liberty and property of all those who reside in the common capital area’ of Hyderabad.

Under this act, Hyderabad is the common capital of the two states for 10 years and the governor is its chief administrator. 

Trouble began when the Anti-Corruption Bureau of the Telangana police earlier this month arrested TDP legislator Revanth Reddy and two others in Hyderabad for allegedly trying to hand over a bribe of Rs 50 lakh on May 31 to buy votes, to enable the TDP-BJP alliance’s candidate to win in the Telangana legislative council elections.

The Telangana ACB also tapped the telephone of Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu during a conversation with nominated Anglo-Indian legislator Elvis Stephenson, who had been offered a bribe of Rs 5 crore to vote in favour of the TDP. Following this, FIRs were filed against K C Rao for illegal phone tapping, and the Andhra government transferred it to the Criminal Investigation Department.

Image: A file photograph of KC Chandrasekhar Rao and N Chandrababu Naidu. Photograph: PTI Photo.