Congress leaders in Andhra Pradesh have touched off a controversy over a letter purportedly written by Governor E.S.L. Narasimhan to the Prime Minister on the ‘slackened implementation' of certain welfare schemes owing to the State's precarious financial position.
Raj Bhavan sources have emphatically denied the existence of any such letter, but the issue evoked strong reactions from within the Congress as well as the Telugu Desam Party (TDP).
TDP Polit Bureau member Y. Ramakrishnudu criticised the Governor for bypassing the elected government in the State and directly communicating with the Centre about the status of welfare programmes in the State.
While the Congress leaders took objection to Mr. Narasimhan's reported action in writing a letter to the Prime Minister, they were equally unhappy over the comments he made at a meeting of the Group I officers that they were spending more time in meetings and seminars rather than on welfare activities.
“Comments improper”
“The Governor is said to have made some casual remarks. But it is not proper on his part to comment about the functioning of the employees in a casual manner,” Congress Working Committee member K. Keshav Rao said.
Another senior leader V. Hanumanth Rao, MP, claimed the Governor's adverse remarks against the employees would hit their morale and impact the implementation of the government's schemes.
Disagreeing strongly with their views, M. Shashidhar Reddy, Congress MLA and National Disaster Management Authority member advised party leaders not to bring the office of the Governor into controversies with their public remarks.
“It is unfortunate that some leaders are making comments against an institution. The Governor's office functions with public funds and the post is not meant just to enjoy the comforts of Raj Bhavan,” he said.
‘Common for Governor'
It was common for the Governor to send reports to the Centre on the welfare and development activities in the State from time to time and “he will be failing in his duties if he did not do so.”
Mr. Shashidhar Reddy also termed baseless the reports on differences between Chief Minister K. Rosaiah and Mr. Narasimhan.
