Barely three days into his new assignment as parttime governor of Andhra Pradesh, E S L Narasimhan seems to have begun ruffling feathers with his perception of the T-problem . Telangana leaders who have met the governor are upset because he gives the impression that he views the Telangana stir as a purely law and order issue and not a political problem. This is even as chief minister K Rosaiah and his cabinet colleagues are mighty miffed over the pro-active role being taken by the governor to tackle the situation when a duly-elected government led by a chief minister and his council of ministers are in place. He is talking directly to some secretaries of the government over the head of the chief minister. And in many cases , the chief minister does not even know that this is happening , said a highly placed source. Narasimhan is slated to go to New Delhi on Monday and submit a report to Union home minister P Chidambaram on the discussions he held with various leaders on the T-issue .
Among the Telangana leaders who met the governor were KCR, Jayashankar, Vijayashanti, D Sreenivas, R Damodar Reddy, Komitireddy Venkat Reddy, K R Suresh Reddy, P Goverdhan Reddy , T Purushottam Rao, B Kamalakar Rao and A Chakrapani, Bandaru Dattatreya, Ch Vidyasagar Rao and several ministers . Almost all of them emerged out of their meetings with the apprehension that Narasimhan might end up as part of the problem rather than being the remedy.
But the same Telangana leaders admitted that a lame-duck government headed by Rosaiah has given the governor enough reasons to take charge. The Congress high command has sent Narasimhan with a mission. With his experience as a former chief of Intelligence Bureau, he has been told to restore law and order , a responsibility that the regionally-divided Rosaiah regime has been unable to deliver so far, sources said. But it is not only the Telangana leaders who are miffed with the approach of the governor . Osmania University vice chancellor T Tirupati Rao had called on the governor who also happens to be the chancellor of the varsity. Narasimhan pulled him up for not letting the police inside the campus to restrain the students who are on an agitation for Telangana. Who are you to stop the police from entering the campus, is what the governor told the VC, sources privy to the meeting said.
A senior leader who was active in the 1969 Telangana movement told the governor that the current crop of students are not as violent as the ones in the sixties agitation. They were peaceful and did not resort to any violence . Instead, it was the police that booked cases against them, the leader reportedly told the governor . But the former cop was not impressed.
The governors active role has already drawn criticism. Telangana Congress leader and Rajya Sabha MP K Keshava Rao took strong objection to it. The governor should work to strengthen the popular government in the state. However, Narasimhan is giving the impression that he is ruling the state. Unfortunately, Rosaiah too is strengthening this impression by directing everybody to meet the governor. My advice to Narasimhan is help the CM to strengthen the elected government , advise him if you want, he told the media on Friday . Given the political instability in the state, Narasimhans presence and style of functioning seems to point to complicating the situation rather than defusing it. The only group who are happy are the policemen who see one of themselves in the drivers saddle, a source said.
(SOURCE : TOI)
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