Jagan-Governor meet triggers speculation in Andhra
AP Governor ESL Narasimhan made a brief visit to Vijayawada city today. CM Jaganmohan Reddy met him at a private hotel as a courtesy call. He briefed the Governor about the coming Budget to be presented on July 12. Jagan has reportedly raised the issues of lack of Special Status and any special financial assistance from the Centre to Andhra. This was not in the spirit of the promises by the Centre at the time of formation of separate statehood.
Jagan had also talked about the priority his government is giving to the Navaratnalu promises made in his party manifesto that brought historic victory. The financial constraints and the huge debt burden have also figured in the discussions. This is all the feedback being reported in the media about CM’s meeting with the Governor.
Till now, Jagan has not come out openly with his comments on the Central budget and its total indifference to the needs of Andhra. Analysts say that Jagan’s calculations on Special Status have gone totally wrong. Now, he is not in a position to even ask for Special Package which the Modi government is ready to give. It was Jagan who had made too much fun of Special Package when the previous Chandrababu government accepted it in place of Special Status.
Telangana opposition seeks probe in Intermediate fiasco
Opposition parties in Telangana on Thursday urged Governor E.S.L. Narasimhan to order a probe by a judge of the High Court into alleged irregularities in the declaration of the Intermediate exam results.
A delegation of leaders of opposition parties called on the Governor and submitted a memorandum. It also urged him to dismiss Education Minister Jagdish Reddy for the goof-ups by the Telangana Board of Intermediate Education (TBIE).
Claiming that 20 students had committed suicide due to the bungling by TBIE, it sough direction to the government to pay Rs 25 lakh compensation each to the families of these students.
State Congress chief Uttam Kumar Reddy told reporters that they also demanded suspension of TBIE Secretary and other officials responsible for the goof-ups.
The delegation which also included leaders of Telugu Desam Party (TDP) and Telangana Jana Samithi (TJS) also wanted the government to order free re-verification of answer papers of all students.
Governor Narasimhan role raising suspicions
AP CM Chandrababu Naidu took strong objection to ESL Narasimhan’s attempt to interfere with the state administration by talking directly to DGP in Jagan’s fan attack case. Naidu said it was a serious lapse on the part of Governor who should have contacted the chief minister concerned as per procedures.
Naidu further said there should be a country-wide debate once again on the role of Governors. Recalling past incidents of Governors playing a negative role in the states, Naidu said they were ready to fight against any injustice and protect the interests of AP.
Meanwhile, Governor’s visit to Delhi has raised concerns and suspicions among political circles because his tour came amid increased political tensions in the wake of Jagan fan attack case. Though there are reports that the visit is not related to the present incident, the TDP leaders are closely following the developments. There is a concern that BJP is working with a secret deal with Jagan to remove the Chandrababu Naidu government in AP much ahead of 2019 elections.
Governor’s role has always become complicated and treacherous with respect to AP whenever there is an anti-TDP government at the Centre. It may be recalled that the removal of NTR government in 1984 by the then Governor Ram Lal was a big black spot for Indian democracy. There was a popular protests and agitation in AP at that time which led to eventual reinstatement of NTR.
Recently, Tamil Nadu faced a crisis when several leaders referred to the NTR removal story. The TN leaders accused their Governor of not inviting Palaniswamy to form the government though he has got majority support of the MLAs. Later, the crisis was averted with a suitable political solution.
In AP, TDP is facing problems in many ways ever since it broke its ties with BJP and started criticising PM Modi. The days ahead may give tougher time to Chandrababu and his team going by the twists and turns political developments are taking now.
