Jagan will be my friendly neighbour: KCR

‘YSR Congress will win over 100 Assembly seats in Seemandhra’. The Congress would win less than 30 seats in Telangana though he initially estimated the party to touch the 35-seat mark.

Telangana Rashtra Samithi president K. Chandrasekhar Rao on Friday expressed confidence that his YSR Congress counterpart Y.S. Jaganmohan Reddy will head the government in Andhra Pradesh. This would pave the way for both of them to work closely as “neighbours.”

As heads of governments in neighbouring States speaking the same language, “We may work together on common issues. The differences between us will be sorted out. We have to sit together for common good, after all, both governments have to work in tandem,”

The TRS chief, who earlier fumed at a reporter for asking who would be the Chief Minister of Telangana if the TRS formed the government, however, budged a little later as he related himself to Mr. Jagan on an even keel. He said Mr. Jagan would be the Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh as the YSR Congress is poised to get over 100 Assembly seats in that region.

Seeking to know if Mr. Jagan was a “political untouchable,” Mr. Rao said etiquette called for recognising whoever was the Chief Minister in a neighbouring State. It was not just in the case of Mr. Jagan but heads of other neighbouring States as Chhattisgarh, Karnataka and Maharashtra. There will be several inter-State commitments with all the neighbours.

Mr. Rao ruled out TDP president N. Chandrababu Naidu becoming Chief Minister again and said the latter’s position was pitiable in both States. He expected the TRS to win the polls in Telangana with absolute majority that could stretch from 60 to 90 Assembly seats. The party need not depend on others to form the government.

The Congress would win less than 30 seats in Telangana though he initially estimated the party to touch the 35-seat mark.

Plea to Governor

On the ongoing bifurcation processes, Mr. Rao said they were only provisional arrangements till both governments were in place. There could be no real distribution of employees, assets, liabilities and finances without the role of popular governments. The States Reorganisation Commission had recommended that the distribution be taken up with the mutual consent of governments in the divided States. The Centre will intervene when either government raised objection. This was brought to the notice of the Chief Secretary.

Mr. Rao asked the Governor E.S.L. Narasimhan not to accommodate the offices of two governments in the same building as it could lead to friction between officers and staff. The offices should be located in separate buildings, he said.