K Chandrasekhar Rao accords emotional farewell to ESL Narasimhan
Rao recalled his long association with Mr Narasimhan and how the Governor had stood by him and encouraged him at every moment.
Hyderabad: Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao on Satur-day turned emotional while extending a warm and affectionate farewell to outgoing Governor E.S.L. Narasimhan and his wife at Pragathi Bhavan.
“It is really a painful moment to lose the services of Mr Narasimhan who had a first-hand understanding and awareness of the background of the Telangana movement, the formation and the journey of the new state,” Mr Rao said.
Speaking on the occasion, Mr Rao recalled his long association with Mr Narasimhan and how the Governor had stood by him and encouraged him at every moment. “The inspiration and guidance shown by Mr Narasim-han would be taken forward in future,” he said.
Sharing his experiences with Mr Narasim-han, the Chief Minister said, “Telangana was formed when Mr Narasi-mhan was Governor. TRS came to power twice during his tenure. I have a special relationship with him. I always regarded his as an elderly gentleman and elder brother. He used to discuss with me the pros and cons of several schemes introduced by the government. He immensely liked the KCR Kits, Haritha Haram, double bedroom houses and Mission Bhagiratha.”
He said when the Telangana movement was at its peak and Mr Narasimhan, a former IPS officer, came as Gov-ernor, some feared that he was appointed only to crush the Telangana movement. These fears proved unfounded.
Mr Rao said, “The Governor used to talk about the good work done by the state government to the Central ministers and institutions and this has got us several appreciations. He also showed initiative in solving issues between Telangana state and Andhra Pradesh.”
He added, “The respect we gave Mr Narasimhan will be extended to the new Governor. We will protect the prestige of Raj Bhavan.”
Mr Narasimhan in his emotional reply said “Giving respect to elders, showing humanity when someone is in distress and living up to the faith: these are the qualities I found in KCR. Some-times when I called him and said namaskaram, he would immediately tell me elders should not say namaskaram to those who are younger. That culture has taught me a lot.”
He recalled: “When my mother passed away, Mr Rao reached within 15 minutes. He said he would take care of everything and, as he promised, he did take care of everything. He sent me by chopper to immerse the ashes. He made all the required arrangements at the temples and showed his humanity.”
“My name is Narasim-han and I have lived up to my name or else people would say I didn’t live up to my name. Hence sometimes I had to put on the Narasimha avatar.”