Ahead of the creation of the rump state of Andhra Pradesh, Telangana Chief Minister K. Chandrashekar Rao met Prime Minister Narendra Modi seeking, among other things, special status for his State and a range of fiscal concessions to help speedy development.
On his maiden visit after taking over as the Chief Minister, Mr. Rao, accompanied by 11 of Telangana Rashtra Samithi TRS) MPs, submitted a memorandum to Mr. Modi listing issues of concern to the new State and its expectations from the Centre in addressing them.
The TRS is livid with the Centre for promulgating an Ordinance to transfer seven mandals of the Bhadrachalam revenue division encompassing 205 villages and tribal hamlets to the residuary Andhra Pradesh for execution of the Polavaram project. Telangana observed a bandh recently in response to a call by the TRS. Transfer of the villages was not envisaged in the original Bill as passed by Parliament.
The TRS sought special status to the State on a par with the residual state of Andhra Pradesh on the plea that already eight districts in the State are categorised as backward under the Backward Region Grant Funds.
The issue of special status will prove to be a tangle even in the case of the residual state of Andhra Pradesh as only the National Development Council (NDC) has the authority to confer it.
Besides meeting the Prime Minister, Mr. Rao also called on President Pranab Mukherjee and handed over a memorandum. There were indications earlier that he could call on some of the senior leaders of the BJP but it appears he chose to confine his visit to official engagements. The Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) described the meeting of Mr. Rao with Mr. Modi as a “courtesy call.”
His petition to the Prime Minister listed 14-issues, ranging from irrigation, power plants, infrastructure, universities and the judiciary.
Separate High Court
He urged the Centre to establish a separate High Court for Andhra Pradesh, development of Hyderabad urban agglomeration, Musi river conservation, establishment of horticultural and tribal universities.
The TRS chief sought Rs.15,000 crore to connect backward areas with major towns and development of national highways.
