Giving
special powers to Governor to protect the properties and interests of
Seemandhra people living in Hyderabad city, which continued to be joint capital
of both the states of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana for a period of 10 years, has
emerged as the fresh contentious issue between the two states.
Though
this provision was specifically mentioned in the AP Reorganisation Act 2014,
TRS and other Telangana activists were strategically kept mum so that to speed
up the process of formation of Telangana state. Now the issue cached attention
of one and all in Telangana with the Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N
Chandrababu Naidu had dashed off a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi requesting
him to invoke related provisions in the AP Reorganisation Act 2014, which give
special powers.
This
has led to severe resentment from TRS leadership. Telangana chief minister K
Chandrasekhar Rao asked his party MPs to take on the Centre for its unilateral
decision to give special powers to the Governor. A TRS MPs delegation led by
Jitender Reddy met the union home minister Rajnath Singh and urged him not to
provide such powers to the governor.
Even
as Rao is critical of the sections in AP Reorganisation Act which give control
to Governor over the law and order in Hyderabad, Chandrababu Naidu, in his letter wrote a couple of days
ago, reportedly requested the Prime Minister to give absolute powers to
Governor in regard to policing in Hyderabad, including maintenance of law and
order, appointment of police commissioners and transfer of police officials.
Naidu, in his letter, further requested the Prime Minister to see that the Governor gets full powers as per the AP State Reorganisation Act 2014 so that the property and liberty of the Seemandhra people in Hyderabad would be protected. He reportedly told Modi that as per the Act, the Governor is responsible for maintaining law and order in Hyderabad as long as it is the common capital of Telangana and AP.
'Under section (8A) of the Act, Governor has been given special powers to protect the people of Seemandhra who live i Hyderabad. The Governor has every authority to appoint city police commissioner, DCPs and ACPs of the police zones in the city. If necessary, he can even have police force which is a mix of people from both states. Hence, I am pleading with the Centre to ensure that the provisions in the Act are properly implemented,' Naidu added.
Naidu, in his letter, further requested the Prime Minister to see that the Governor gets full powers as per the AP State Reorganisation Act 2014 so that the property and liberty of the Seemandhra people in Hyderabad would be protected. He reportedly told Modi that as per the Act, the Governor is responsible for maintaining law and order in Hyderabad as long as it is the common capital of Telangana and AP.
'Under section (8A) of the Act, Governor has been given special powers to protect the people of Seemandhra who live i Hyderabad. The Governor has every authority to appoint city police commissioner, DCPs and ACPs of the police zones in the city. If necessary, he can even have police force which is a mix of people from both states. Hence, I am pleading with the Centre to ensure that the provisions in the Act are properly implemented,' Naidu added.
Opposing
the move of the Centre to delegate more powers to the Governor, Chandrasekhar
Rao asked his MPS to exert pressure on the Centre to withdraw the fresh
guidelines issued by the home ministry. He told them ‘according to the
Constitution, the Governor had to act as per the recommendation of the council
of ministers, and giving absolute powers to the Governor would be against the
Constitution. TRS would never allow this,' he remarked.
He said making changes in the rules of
business of the Governor is in violation of the Constitution and his party
would raise the issue in Parliament and would not allow the House to function
till the circular is withdrawn. Telangana Political JAC also was angry towards
Chandrababu Naidu for writing such letter to the prime minister and has decided
to burn the effigies of Naidu on July 8 all over Telangana.
Union Home Minister’s
circular
Meanwhile, the union home
ministry circular ( N o 12012/05/2014-SR) to Telanagna chief secretary with
suggested procedures for implementing the Section 8 of the AP Reorganisation
Act 2014 has led to more confusion and irritation. Section 8 states: (1) On and
from the appointed day, for the purposes of administration of the common
capital area, the Governor shall have special responsibility for the security
of life, liberty and property of all those who reside in such area. (2) In
particular, the responsibility of the Governor shall extend to matters such as
law and order, internal security and security of vital installations, and
management and allocation of Government buildings in the common capital area.
(3) In discharge of the functions, the Governor shall, after consulting the
Council of Ministers of the state of Telangana, exercise his individual
judgment as to the action to be taken.
The governor had proposed to the home ministry in January that he be
given appropriate powers in the Act itself. He asked for a new set of business
rules for the Telangana government to enable him to exercise his authority. The
main points he made were:
The common capital area that was defined in
the Act was composed of only the GHMC area. This area was overseen by both the
Cyberabad and Hyderabad Police Commissionerates. Since these two
Commissionerates included areas greater than GHMC, he suggested a creation of a
separate Commissionerate for the common capital area, that is for GHMC. n The
Governor envisaged ‘a pro-active role’ for himself although the Act made him
like other governors, subject to the Telenagana government.
In this regard, he wanted control over police
appointments in GHMC area. As for the Advisers to the Governor, as provided in
the Act, Governor wanted the right to choose them himself. The Union Cabinet
ignored the governor’s suggestions. However, the circular now reverts to the
governor’s earlier suggestions.
*Instead of creating a special commisonerate
for common capital area, as the Governor suggested, the common capital area is
expanded from GHMC area to include Hyderabad and the Cyberabad
Commissionerates, and the district of Ranga Reddy. This is not as per the Act
and the home ministry is making a fool of itself. n The circular also desires
that “The police force of Hyderabad and Cyberabad Commissionerates shall be a
joint force comprising elements from Andhra and Telangana on fair share basis
in higher supervisory posts.’’
This is again very irregular as police
officers of residuary AP do not have jurisdiction in Telangana. The rest of the
Centre’s suggestion are not important and only require reporting daily details
to governor and answering his queries regarding GHMC issues. The Telangana government
has to take the suggestions made in the circular to the Cabinet after taking
into account the AP Reorganisation Act and the letter and spirit of
Constitution and federal structure of the country. After making suitable
alterations as below it should incorporate them in its Business Rules.
First, it needs to be specific that the GHMC
area is the only one where the governor has special powers as per the Act.
Second, it should reconstitute the Police Commissionerates with a special
Commissionerate for GHMC area where the governor’s special powers apply. Third,
since staffing of senior Telangana police officers is from the All India
Service they should be trusted to exercise their functions as per law and the
Constitution. Finally, the Telangana government should ensure that the governor
gets as many detailed reports on a daily basis from every police station in
GHMC area. That should keep him occupied and ‘pro-active.’
BJP says only to appease
MIM
Meanwhile, the Bharatiya Janata Party state president G
Kishan Reddy on Monday took exception to Telangana Rashtra Samithi making ‘an
issue of nothing’ on the Governor receiving special powers on law and order and
alleged that this was being done to appease the MIM. Speaking to reporters,
Kishan Reddy said that the Governor had special powers on matters related to
law and order and police was included in the Andhra Pradesh Reorganization Bill
when it was presented in Parliament. “This is not a new decision taken by the
NDA government.
It was included in the Bill. TRS and chief minister K
Chandrashekar Rao are kicking up a fuss only to appease the MIM, whose support
they had taken during the local and municipal body elections,” he said. The
Amberpet MLA added that the ordinance ordering the merging of seven mandals
that would be submerged under the Polavaram project into Andhra Pradesh was
also present in Andhra Pradesh Reorganization Act, 2014. He said that the
ordinance was issued under the UPA government and that BJP did not have
anything to do with it.
He asserted that as the project was being undertaken by the Centre, the lands should also remain under the control of the Centre. “The lands should be under the Centre and any lands that are not submerged should be handed over to Telangana, including the Sileru Power project,” opined Kishan. He also questioned why KCR had not taken up these issues with Congress chief Sonia Gandhi when he had met her after the Bill was passed in the Parliament. “TRS is questioning this only as part of a conspiracy by colluding with the MIM,” alleged Kishan Reddy.
He asserted that as the project was being undertaken by the Centre, the lands should also remain under the control of the Centre. “The lands should be under the Centre and any lands that are not submerged should be handed over to Telangana, including the Sileru Power project,” opined Kishan. He also questioned why KCR had not taken up these issues with Congress chief Sonia Gandhi when he had met her after the Bill was passed in the Parliament. “TRS is questioning this only as part of a conspiracy by colluding with the MIM,” alleged Kishan Reddy.
Plea to
President
TRS MPs led by B Vinod Kumar raised this issue in the
Parliament alleging this would makes encroachment of State’s powers on law and
order. They also urged President Pranab Mukherjee’s intervention in this regard
to stop attempt of providing unconstitutional powers to governor. TDP
leadership has also indicated to opt for legal battle, if needed.
