Andhra, Telangana CMs to meet to discuss pending inter-state issues

Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu and his Telangana counterpart A Revanth Reddy will meet here on Saturday to resolve pending issues related to bifurcation of undivided Andhra.

The meeting will take place at the government's Mahatma Jyoti Rao Phule Praja Bhavan here this evening.

Telangana came into existence on June 2, 2014, following the division of undivided Andhra Pradesh.

Ten years after separation, several issues such as bifurcation of assets, state-run institutions, power bills dues, transfer of leftover employees to their native states are still unresolved between Andhra Pradesh and Telangana.

Hyderabad ceased to be the common capital for both the states from June 2 this year as per the Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Act, 2014. The metropolis is now the capital city of Telangana only.

According to official sources, the division of various state-run institutions and corporations of the undivided state, listed in Schedule 9 and Schedule 10 of the Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Act (2014), between the two states, has not been completed as there was no consensus over several issues.

Opposition BRS leaders here demanded that the Telangana government press for the return of some villages from Andhra to Telangana. These villages were merged with Andhra Pradesh at the time of bifurcation to facilitate the construction of the multi-purpose Polavaram project.

Taking the initiative for the talks, Naidu wrote a letter to the Telangana chief minister last week, proposing a face-to-face meeting on July 6 to address unresolved bifurcation issues.

Revanth Reddy, who welcomed Naidu's proposal, invited him for a 'tete-e-tete' on July 6.

It is understood that Naidu and Reddy share a cordial relationship as the latter was a TDP leader before he joined the Congress and had even served as the working president of TDP's Telangana unit.

During the last 10 years, the chief ministers of both states have met to resolve bilateral issues.

Former Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy had met the then Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao in 2020.

Prior to that, Naidu and KCR too had a meeting during the TDP chief's previous tenure as Andhra chief minister between 2014 and 2019.

KCR had also attended the foundation laying ceremony of Andhra's capital, Amaravati, then.

Naidu was accorded a grand welcome by TDP activists in Telangana when he arrived at the Begumpet airport here on Friday evening after concluding a visit to Delhi.