Amid the escalating row between the Governments of Telangana and Andhra Pradesh in the backdrop of cash-for-vote scam and alleged phone tapping issue, Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao on Monday met Governor of the two States ESl Narasimhan. Their discussion was focused on the issues arising out of the cash-for-vote scam and the complaint of Andhra Pradesh Government that the telephones of Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu and other politicians were being tapped by the Telangana Government, sources said.
Telugu Desam Party’s demand that the Governor should be given the special powers of law and order in Hyderabad under Section 8 of AP State Reorganization Act also figured in the meeting. KCR made it clear to the Governor that any such move will not be acceptable to Telangana Government, source said.
The meeting came a day after the Governor’s advisors met Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu to discuss various issues, including the alleged tapping of his phone by the Telangana Government and his demand for handing over the powers of law and order in Hyderabad to the Governor. KCR reiterated Telangana Government had no reason or wherewithal to tap anybody’s phone.
The row which had started with Telangana Anti Corruption Bureau arresting a Telugu Desam MlA A Revanth Reddy, on the charges of bribing a nominated MlA, has now deepened and enlarged to the extent that the two State Governments were locked in an eyeball to eyeball confrontation. Chandrababu Naidu Government was in fact so disappointed with the lukewarm response from the Governor to its demands that it has unleashed a campaign for the removal of ESl Narasimhan. Several Ministers of Naidu cabinet have gone public with the charges that Narasimhan was biased towards Telangana.
Meanwhile, Centre was giving utmost priority to the charges and counter charges of Telangana and Andhra Pradesh Government and was gathering the information from independent sources including the central intelligence agencies. With mounting evidence against him in the case and little help from Modi Government materialising, a worried Naidu was planning his own counter move. He held a detailed discussion with the Director General of AP Police JV Ramudu, State ACB head Malakondaiah and Intelligence head Anuradha to discuss the legal aspects of the case booked against the TDP MlA by ACB and the possible options if the ACB or the court summons Naidu for his deposition.
Sources said that as a counter move Naidu Government was now planning to constitute its own Special Investigation Team headed by a senior IPS officer in to the phone tapping allegations. Sources said that the SIT will base its probe on several cases booked against Telangana Chief Minister in various police stations of Andhra Pradesh. A formal decision in this regard was likely on Tuesday.
Informed sources said the Intelligence Bureau officials in Hyderabad have made their own enquiries and sent a detailed report about the unfolding events starting with the alleged attempt by a TDP MlA A Revanth Reddy to pay a bribe of Rs50 lakh to nominated MlA and his subsequent arrest, alleged telephonic conversation between the nominated MlA and TDP President Chandrababu Naidu which was later leaked by a TV channel. The IB report also denies that the phones were tapped, sources said.
In view of the sensitive nature of the whole issue, National Security Advisor Ajit Doval also contacted the head of Telangana Anti-Corruption Bureau head Abdul Khayyum Khan and sought all the details of the case, sources said. Dova’s call to Khan came even before Naidu met the Prime Minister Narendra Modi with his litany of charges against Telangana Government last week.
According to the sources, Modi had a clear picture of the case when Naidu met him. Khan gave a detailed briefing to Doval on the sequence of events, including how the trap was laid on the complaint of the nominated MlA Elvis Stephenson and how the TDP MlA was arrested red handed. The ACB chief also told Doval about the tape of the telephonic conversation between Naidu and the nominated MlA Stephenson which along with other material evidence was sent to the state Forensic Science laboratory for analysis.