With no end to the imbroglio over more powers to the State Governor in sight, Telangana Home Minister N Narasimha Reddy has issued a threat that if Centre presses ahead with transferring more powers to the Governor, Telangana Rashtra Samiti MPs will resign. TRS, the ruling party of Telangana, has 11 members in lok Sabha.
The threat comes a day after the TRS MPs’ protest over the issue rocked Parliament and Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh defended Centre’s orders to transfer law and orders powers of Hyderabad to Governor ESl Narasimhan. He said that the orders were in accordance with the AP State Reorganisation Act passed by the previous UPA Government.
“We will launch a massive agitation if the decision is implemented,” Home Minister told the media in Hyderabad. “Nobody can forcibly take away powers of democratically elected Government “.
Rajnath Singh has invited the TRS MPs to meet him for a discussion on the issue on August 18 in New Delhi. Narasimha Reddy said that the TRS MPs would attend the meeting. The issue also figured in the Telangana Cabinet meeting last evening and it was decided to resist any move by the Centre in this regard. Telangana Government has put its foot down against Center’s decision to empower the Governor.
Sources said that the Cabinet felt that Center’s letter on the issue was an affront to a democratically elected State Government. The Cabinet decided that it will fight against the Centre till the objectionable order is withdrawn.
Meanwhile, the State BJP president G Kishan Reddy said that vesting the Governor with the powers of law and order in Hyderabad was clearly mentioned in the AP State Reorganisation Act.
He claimed that Telangana could become possible only with the support of the BJP. “With one MP TRS could not have achieved it”, he said. lashing out at the Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao, Kishan Reddy said that he was targeting the Prime Minister Narendra Modi with “uncivilised attacks”.
He also alleged that the TRS was playing in the hands of MIM just to win the forthcoming elections of Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation.