Telangana Chief Minister K. Chandrashekar Rao claimed on Sunday that Prime Minister Narendra Modi has assured him that the Centre would not act in haste on the proposed transfer of seven mandals of Bhadrachalam revenue division, encompassing 205 villages and tribal hamlets, to Andhra Pradesh for execution of the Polavaram project.
The Centre promulgated an ordinance recently to initiate transfer of the villages as it wanted the issue to be addressed before Telangana came into existence on June 2.
The government had to take the ordinance route as the proposed transfer was not part of the Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Bill approved by Parliament.
The TRS is opposed to the proposed transfer of villages as it feels there are alternative ways for execution of the Polavam project. At a news conference, Mr. Rao said he briefed Mr. Modi in detail on the futility of the transfer, which would entail submergence of tribal villages.
“The Prime Minister told me that the Union government would not act in haste on the issue. I was very impressed by the tone and tenor of his assurance,” the Chief Minister said.
Mr. Rao contended that besides Telangana, Odisha and Chhattisgarh have also objected to the transfer. He said the transfer would impact the power requirement of his state.
He said the Prime Minister was conveyed that as and when the Ordinance is laid on the table of Parliament, his party would raise objections to it.
“I requested the Prime Minister to convene a meeting of the Chief Ministers of Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Odisha and Chhattisgarh in a bid to evolve a consensus over the issue. I emphasised that we have no objection to giving water to Andhra Pradesh but there are other issues, including displacement of tribals,” Mr. Rao said.
The TRS chief said he requested Mr. Modi to grant special status for Telangana on a par with Andhra Pradesh as already eight districts in the State are categorised by the Planning Commission for eligibility under the Backward Region Grant Funds. He said SC/ST/minorities/OBCs would account for 85 per cent of the population of Telangana.
The issue of special status would prove to be a tangle even in the case of Andhra Pradesh as only the National Development Council (NDC) has the authority to confer it.
On his maiden visit to Delhi after taking oath as the Chief Minister, Mr. Rao, accompanied by 11 of TRS MPs, invited the Prime Minister for the State inauguration day.
Mr. Rao said he urged the Prime Minister to ensure expeditious distribution of civil service officers between the two States as the administrative work has come to a standstill. “Mr. Modi instructed his secretary to take up the issue immediately.”
The TRS chief said he felt reassured by the words of the Prime Minister that as a four-time CM he believed in maximum devolution of powers to States.
