With differences and disputes between the States of Telangana and Andhra Pradesh continuing unabated, the Union Home Ministry held a crucial meeting with the Chief Secretaries of the two States in New Delhi on Thursday to keep the problems under check.
The first round of meeting of the Chief Secretaries with the Union Home Secretary Anil Goswamy on Thursday was confined to the issues of power distribution and the river waters.
While, Andhra Pradesh was represented by Chief Secretary IYR Krishna Rao, Telangana was represented by his counterpart Rajiv Sharma.
Though the issue of transferring law and order powers of Hyderabad to the State Governor was seen as the biggest irritant creating lot of heat, it was not taken up on Thursday.
According to sources, the Union Home Secretary said that there was no need for taking up this issue now.
It has become a big bone of contention as the Telangana Government has rejected the circular of the Union Home Ministry seeking changes to the rules of business transaction and transferring powers to the State Governor.
The Telangana Government has written back to the Centre that any such move will be an infringement of the Constitutional powers of the State. Telangana’s TRS Government has adopted the stand that law and order was a State subject and it cannot be transferred to the Governor.
The Home Ministry as well as the Government of Andhra Pradesh were of the view that as Hyderabad was common capital of the two States for 10 years, law and order should be in the hands of the Governor to ensure protection of the interests of Seemandhra people. Telangana Government was contemplating a legal and constitutional fight if the Centre forces its hand on the issue.
In the meeting, Rajiv Sharma raised the issue of AP Government cancelling the power purchase agreements between the producers and the distribution companies. Krishna Rao maintained that the AP Government will continue only those PPAs approved by the State Electricity Regulatory Commission (SERC).
On the issue of Krishna water, Rajiv Sharma demanded that Krishna Tribunal should fix the share of water only after hearing the arguments of all the four riparian States.