Revanth, Naidu Set Roadmap to Resolve Bifurcation Issues

Hyderabad: In their first-ever meeting, Telangana Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy and his Andhra Pradesh counterpart N. Chandrababu Naidu set the roadmap to identify, discuss and resolve pending bifurcation issues between the two states.

Instead of getting into details of pending issues in their meeting at Praja Bhavan here, the two decided to constitute committees at the Chief Secretary and ministers’ levels separately to discuss and resolve the issues. Problems that defied solution would be dealt with by the Chief Ministers.

Sources later said that the two states would write to the Centre for the remerger of five villages, that were handed over to Andhra Pradesh post-bifurcation, back with Telangana. Sources said the Telangana government refused more time to the AP government to vacate buildings allocated to it in Hyderabad. The Telangana government explained about their all-out war against narcotics and drugs so as to protect the future generations and sought the cooperation of Andhra Pradesh government. The Chief Ministers also identified areas of cooperation and working together. The two states agreed to secure all their rights from the Centre that were promised in the AP Reorganisation Act, 2014.

The meeting between AP and TG delegations was held for about one-and-a-half hour.

The AP delegation led by Naidu and comprised ministers Anagani Satya Prasad, B.C. Janardhan Reddy and Kandula Durgesh, Chief Secretary Neerabh Kumar Prasad and senior officials.

The Telangana delegation led by Revanth Reddy comprised Deputy CM Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka, ministers D. Sridhar Babu and Ponnam Prabhakar, Chief Secretary A. Santhi Kumari and senior officials.

According to the agreement reached between them, two committees will be set up to resolve pending issues. The first one will be a three-member committee headed by the Chief Secretary of the respective state and will comprise senior IAS officers. The first meeting of these committees will be held in the next two weeks. They will meet every fortnight and resolve the pending issues at their level.

Issues that could not be resolved at their level would be referred to the ministers' committees of their respective states, which will try to resolve the issues through talks. For issues that could not be resolved at the two levels, the Chief Ministers would try to resolve them.

Revanth Reddy presented a book ‘Naa Godava’, which is a collection of poems by Telangana Prajakavi Kaloji Narayan Rao. The book delved into the injustices meted out to Telangana region and also the sufferings during the Nizam regime, which also reflects Revanth Reddy's deep-rooted philosophy and commitment to protect the interests of Telangana and its people.

Briefing the media about the decisions taken in the CMs meeting, Deputy CM Bhatti said "We have decided to expedite discussions on issues that have not been resolved in the last 10 years. We do not think that all the problems in the Bifurcation Act can be solved in the first meeting."

He emphasised the need for a structured approach to tackle these issues in the coming days. He highlighted the importance of cooperation between the two states on issues affecting the everyday lives of the people.

"We have decided to work together on the issues that the people of the two states are struggling with," he said.

Acknowledging the rise in cybercrimes and its impact on the common people, Bhatti and AP minister Satya Prasad stressed on the need for a coordinated effort to tackle the problem.

"It has been decided that the two states should work in coordination and control cybercrimes and the drug menace," they stated. A committee will be formed at the additional DG level in both states to address these challenges collaboratively, they said.

They said that the first meeting between both the two Chief Ministers reflects a commitment to resolve past issues while ensuring a safer and more prosperous future for the people of Telangana and Andhra Pradesh. The structured approach and focus on collaboration signal a promising forward path for the two states, they added.