Committee meets CS’ of Telangana, AP

A committee headed by Union home additional secretary Ananth Kumar Singh met the chief secretaries of both states here on Friday to discuss and resolve the contentious bifurcation related issues.

Interestingly, the committee rushed to Hyderabad within 24 hours of Union home minister Rajnath Singh making an announcement of appointing A.K. Singh as the nodal officer for coordinating with TS and AP government for speedy implementation of the provisions incorporated under the AP Reorganisation Act, 2014.

Chief Secretaries of TS and AP, Rajiv Sharma and I.Y.R. Krishna Rao, submitted strong arguments in support of their governments before the committee.

TS argued before the committee that the governor had to act as per the recommendations of the TS Cabinet in the joint capital of Hyderabad with regard to law and order issues, which AP strongly opposed.

AP argued that the law and order issue in Hyderabad should be handled by the governor as per the provisions of the Act.

Both governments also stuck to their stand on common institutions listed in the 10th schedule of the Reorganisation Act, with each claiming control over them.

Sources said the “rigid stand” adopted by the two states forced Mr Singh to issue a stern warning that the Centre would be “forced to intervene to set things right”.