Governor E.S.L. Narasimhan would like the Chief Ministers of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana to regard him as a “friend, philosopher and guide” rather than “as a suspect.”
Laying great emphasis on a consultative approach to sort out any emerging issue between the two newly created States, Mr. Narasimhan says the Raj Bhavan could be used as a “sounding board” for adiscussion on any conflict.
Both CMs could, in a friendly atmosphere, discuss the constraints they face and a better solution would always emerge out of such consultative efforts, Mr. Narasimhan told The Hindu in an interview.
On the controversy over allotment of 193 Secretariat employees to Telangana, leading to a tough posturing by CM-designate K. Chandrasekhara Rao, he has a simple solution. “Let there be a high-level official committee to examine the issue. Both CMs could later discuss and solve the problem, as allotment of employees was only ‘provisional’ and made on the basis of nativity as defined in the Presidential Order and mentioned in their service records.”
What does he think of the adversarial stands taken by both CMs-elect?
“Political posturing is inevitable. But when they occupy the chairs, it would be different. When they are without power it’s a different issue. I am sure they will have a dialogue and settle all issues.”
Would he facilitate such a meeting?
“Why not? It should happen and it will happen,” Mr. Narasimhan said. Being a neutral person and elder to them, he is better positioned to advise them on all issues.
Mr. Rao and Mr. N. Chandrababu Naidu are well-intentioned and visionaries, he avers. They have their dreams. “For Chandrababu, it’s the third tenure, but he faces a tough challenge of building a State and not a city. For KCR, he wants to showcase his performance as a first timer. He achieved Telangana by providing some vision to people, now he has to see how much of his vision can be fulfilled.”
The former Intelligence Bureau chief said he would not get into micro-policing, when asked about his being given the special responsibility of maintaining law and order in Hyderabad as it is the responsibility of the Police department. He would rather consult the Telangana Council of Ministers. “If a situation is developing, they would come to me asking how to tackle it. I would then suggest a solution. If there are any political overtones to it, I would ask the CM whether it’s okay for him. If the Chief Minister disagrees, then I would have to tell him such an action is required, otherwise there would be a breakdown of law and order.”
The idea behind making him, a neutral person, responsible for law and order in city limits was to allay apprehensions in the Andhra population, and because of opposition to Hyderabad being made a Union Territory. Surely, he would have liked to have more time to ensure that the bifurcation process was taken up methodically; the right approach now would be to seize the opportunity and do something rather than expecting things to happen.
The Governor came here four-and-half years ago when Hyderabad was enveloped by the Telangana agitation. He is happy to have handled the issue “without firing a single bullet” but he regrets the firing in Kishanbagh.
“It has been a good experience” as he could handle local bodies elections and the general election, in addition to tackling several issues like strikes by power sector employees and petrol vendors. The toughest decision he had to take was cancelling the PG medical entrance examination but he ensured that a re-examination was conducted quickly.
