President Pranab Mukherjee on Saturday gave his assent to the Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Bill, 2014 that would pave way for the creation of the State of Telangana, and approved the Cabinet’s recommendation to impose Central rule in the State.
Governor E.S.L. Narasimham will now take charge of the administration and will be assisted by yet unnamed advisers.
The Bill, which was adopted by Parliament last month, will become an Act once the Union government issues a notification in The Gazette of India.
The actual bifurcation may take at least three months as the process is preceded by elaborate work, including the division of assets and liabilities of the successor States.
With the State now under President’s Rule, necessitated by N. Kiran Kumar Reddy’s resignation from chief ministership, the focus is expected to shift to politicking.
The Congress is negotiating with the Telangana Rashtra Samithi regarding a possible merger.
However, TRS chief K.C. Rao is bargaining hard. Within hours of Congress general secretary Digvijaya Singh announcing here that the TRS had shown interest in a merger, TRS leaders in Hyderabad issued vehement denials.
The BJP, which has nominal presence in Andhra Pradesh, is hoping to ally with the Telugu Desam Party.
