Chief Minister-designate N. Chandrababu Naidu called on Governor E.S.L. Narasimhan on Saturday to discuss allotment of top officers to Andhra Pradesh and other bifurcation processes.
Saturday was the last day for giving preferences for allotment of officers to the posts of Chief Secretary, Director-General of Police, Principal Secretary and Secretaries in the Chief Minister’s Office. Chief Commissioner of Land Administration I.Y.R. Krishna Rao, who is being tipped for the Chief Secretary’s post, accompanied Mr. Naidu. Party sources said that senior IAS officer Ajay Sawhney was named Principal Secretary to head the CMO, but Mr. Naidu is yet to choose the police chief.
Mr. Naidu is understood to have discussed contentious issues such as sharing of employees between the two new States, maintenance of inter-State irrigation projects and other processes of bifurcation. He raised the issue of K. Gangi Reddy, an accused in the Alipiri attack case, fleeing the country. Later, speaking to presspersons, he criticised Chief Minister-designate of Telangana K. Chandrasekhar Rao for his “provocative” statements.
“As the leader of a movement, you [KCR] may have said something, but you should now talk responsibly,” Mr. Naidu said. Reacting to the Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) setting up a war room to deal with disputes in the deployment of employees, Mr. Naidu sought to know for what purpose it was meant for. The brand image of Hyderabad had already been damaged by the provocative statements made during the Telangana agitation, but it should be stopped now for the sake of Telangana. On his swearing-in, Mr. Naidu said it would be on an auspicious day anytime after June 2, the appointed day for the formation of the two new States.
