Governor’s special powers are part of the Act
K Chandrashekar Rao is no longer the leader of a protest movement for the creation of a Telangana State; he is the Chief Minister of Telangana. Therefore, as a constitutionally elected head of Government, he has to exercise caution and responsibility in his utterances. He should not be twisting facts to drum up support or inflame passions. Unfortunately, he has been doing just the opposite with regard to the special powers that the Governor of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana has with regard to the administration of the joint capital, Hyderabad. His contention that the Governor cannot be in control of law and order issues of a State, is valid in the normal scheme of things. But he cannot have forgotten that the AP Reorganisation Act, 2014, grants special powers to the Governor in matters of security in Hyderabad.
This is primarily because the city is the joint capital of two States, and obviously both States cannot be simultaneously exercising their control on law and order. The Act is the creation of Parliament, and had facilitated the formation of the Telangana State. Mr Rao and his party leaders will have been aware of the provision. To rake up the issue now, merely because the Union Ministry of Home Affairs has dispatched a letter to the State Chief Secretary, reflecting the Centre's concerns over the “smooth and effective implementation” of the relevant portions, is like adding fuel to a fire that has thankfully subsided after the pro-Telangana agitation ended. There was no reason for Telangana Rashtra Samithi Members of Parliament to disrupt the proceedings of lok Sabha on Monday on the issue. They must understand that their oft-repeated remark that law and order is a State subject, does not entirely apply in the case of Hyderabad.
For the sake of argument, if one takes the Telangana Chief Minister's line at face value, the question will be: Which State regime will have primacy on the matter — Andhra Pradesh's or Telangana'sIJ Mr Rao cannot latch on to the line that since Hyderabad will eventually be Telangana's capital, in five or 10 years' time, his Government must have the final say today. For now, Hyderabad technically belongs to both Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, and because of this special situation, the Governor has been given primacy on the issue of law and order. He can direct the police, call for files related to law and order and even review Cabinet decisions on the subject if he deems it necessary. His decisions will be final and binding, though he needs to consult the Council of Ministers of Telangana in the course of discharging his duties in this area. The need for such an arrangement was also felt because of apprehensions about the safety and security of the people of Andhra Pradesh living in Hyderabad. While no major incident of hate violence has so far occurred, there have been troubling signs which need to be handled effectively. The Telangana Government must cooperate with, not confront, the Governor.