Notwithstanding the Telangana government’s stand to stake a claim on the AP Bhavan in Delhi as the sole property of the State, Union Home Secretary Rajiv Mehrishi wanted both the Telugu States to come to a ‘reasonable agreement’ over sharing the disputed prime property.
Irked with the stalemate over sharing of the AP Bhavan, Union Home Secretary, in a video conference on Thursday, believed to have firmly told the officials of both the States to resolve the issue as per the provisions of the AP State Reorganisation Act, 2014 and submit a report in 15 days.
The Andhra Pradesh officials reiterated their stand that the AP Bhavan buildings along with the land should be divided between both the States on the basis of population ratio as per the Section 48 (b) of AP State Reorganisation Act, 2014.
To wait for proposal
The Telangana officials would now wait for the AP government to give its proposal on sharing of the property before requesting for a next meeting.
“The property is not one contiguous piece of land as there are different types and pieces of land comprising the property. Sharing will have to be done in a manner that both the States get buildings and land that are contiguous to each other,” sources added.
The AP Bhavan, at present, is shared by both Telangana and Andhra Pradesh States, but the permanent division of assets has been pending.
The Telangana State had represented to the Centre to allot the entire AP Bhavan to it as it was the property of erstwhile State of Hyderabad State and allot another piece of land to Andhra Pradesh.
Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao had written in June, 2016 to the Union Home Minister, Rajnath Singh, justifying the stand of transferring the entire AP Bhavan in New Delhi to the Telangana government as it proposed to build a new Telangana Bhavan with all facilities, including a cultural centre.
