Naidu, KCR meet to iron out differences

The historic meeting was the first to bring both the warring chief ministers together after the bifurcation

Andhra Pradesh chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu and Telangana chief minister K Chandrasekhara Rao (KCR) on Sunday met in the presence of governor ESL Narasimhan to sort out issues arising out of bifurcation of Andhra Pradesh.

The meeting, the first to bring both the warring chief ministers together after the bifurcation, began at 12 noon at Raj Bhavan. AP chief secretary IYR Krishna Rao, his Telangana counterpart Rajiv Sharma, AP Assembly Speaker  Kodela Sivaprasada Rao, Telangana Speaker Madhusudhana Chary etc also attended the meeting.

“The meeting was relatively amicable and we discussed key issues. We also asked both the chief secretaries to solve the issues pertaining to the division of employees in the Secretariat and directorates in Hyderabad,” KCR said, adding they would discuss issues such as water distribution and power purchase agreements in the days to come.

Reiterating that both the states wanted to maintain cordial relationships like other Indian states, he said they would jointly put pressure on the central government for the social and economic development of both the states.

Brushing aside reports that the Intensive Household Survey, which is envisaged to enumerate about nine million households in Telangana on August 19, was aimed at ‘filtering’ Andhra people, KCR said the primary objective of the initiative was to provide welfare schemes to all the rightful beneficiaries.

“As reported, furnishing bank account details is not mandatory,” he said.