HYDERABAD: The buzz around holding early polls to the Telangana Legislative Assembly faded away after Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao met Prime Minister Narendra Modi in New Delhi on Saturday. According to TRS party sources, the CM during his 30-minute interaction with the Prime Minister was confined to his 'official business' and there was no political talk or discussion on early polls between them.
KCR took up 14 pending bifurcation-related issues concerning TS and sought their resolution at the earliest, which was just a repetition of the August 5 meeting with PM Modi. Additionally, this time, the CM sought an increase in the FRBM limit by 0.50 per cent to raise the state government’s annual borrowing limit and to mobilize more funds from various financial institutions for development programmes.
After the meeting, TRS deputy floor leader in the Lok Sabha B Vinod Kumar claimed that the PM had given his nod to the state government's new zonal system in 2-3 days and also bifurcation of the High Court at the earliest. He said the CM had successfully convinced the PM to approve 95 per cent reservations for locals in government jobs against the Centre's suggestion of 85 per cent as part of the new zonal system for government recruitments.
The CM also sought release of Rs 450 crore for the development of backward districts, release of the Centre's share of interest on the loans to be given to women societies and farmers, funds for regional Ring Road, allotment of Bison Polo Grounds, defence lands in Secunderabad for building of the Secretariat, flyovers etc. In his representation to the PM on raising the FRBM limit, the CM said, “The Centre had conveyed its consent to raise market borrowings, computed at 3 per cent of the GSDP provisionally for the first nine months of the financial year 2018-19. As per recommendations of the 14th Finance Commission, the States which are in revenue surplus are eligible for raising market borrowings up to 3.5 per cent of GSDP.”
