The Cabinet is meeting at the Secretariat at 10.30 a.m. on Wednesday (February 21), two days ahead of the deliberations between officials of Ministry of Home Affairs (MoHA) and a delegation of the Government of Andhra Pradesh (GoAP) led by Chief Secretary Dinesh Kumar on issues related to bifurcation in New Delhi.
According to official sources, the Home Ministry has written a letter to the Chief Secretary to come for a meeting on February 23 along with full information on the assurances given to A.P. at the time of bifurcation.
He is likely to be accompanied by Special Chief Secretaries Neerabh Kumar Prasad (labour, employment and training) and M. Ravichandra (finance) and Principal Secretaries L. Premachandra Reddy (general administration) and Ajay Jain (energy, infrastructure and investment).
Categorical stand
At the Cabinet meeting, the State government will take a categorical stand on its response to the criticism by Opposition parties and also its ally BJP, which struck a belligerent posture, saying that the TDP has not been honouring the coalition dharma on top of committing various mistakes. The Februray 23 meeting is crucial as the demand for a no-confidence motion against the BJP-led NDA government is gaining strength in the run-up to the commencement of the second part of the Budget session of Parliament on March 5. Home Ministry officials will take stock of the special financial assistance that has been extended to the State so far and to what extent has the AP Reorganisation Act been implemented amid claims and counter-claims by the allies.
