NEW DELHI/ Hyderabad: Union home minister Rajnath Singh promised TRS MPs that he would take their suggestions and make suitable changes to the circular to the Telangana state government asking it to give special powers to the Governor with regard to law and order in the common capital of Hyderabad.
TRS MP B. Vinod Kumar, who met the home minister along with his colleagues, told this newspaper that Mr Singh asked them to meet him next week to amicably resolve the issue.
“We conveyed our displeasure to the home minister and he agreed that much better language could have been used. He asked us to meet him either on August 18 or August 19 so that we all can sit and try to make changes to the circular,” he said.
As soon as the House convened at 11 am, TRS MPs led by floor leader A.P. Jitender Reddy were on their feet demanding that the home minister make a statement on the directive and announce its withdrawal.
Speaker Sumitra Mahajan asked them to sit but the MPs, including Ms K. Kavita, went into the well of House shouting slogans demanding withdrawal of the directive. As din prevailed in the House, the Speaker adjourned the House for 10 minutes.
Mr Jitender Reddy, while raising the issue during the Zero Hour, recalled the struggle to achieve statehood for Telangana and alleged that the Centre was trying to usurp the powers of the state government through the circular which asks it to hand over law and order duties to the Governor.
“The state is just 10 weeks old and this is the time that the Central government should boost the energy by giving Cerelac and Farex but we are getting circulars like this. Why should the law and order be handed over to Governor? It is like taking away rights from the elected government,” he said.
Hyderabad MP and MIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi called the directive and the Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Act, 2014, which envisaged special responsibilities for the Governor, as “unconstitutional”.
“The UPA did a mistake by bringing that provision. Law and order should be with the democratically elected government and under the Chief Minister not with the Governor,” he said, amid protests from Telugu Desam MPs who were sitting in treasury benches.
The home minister then clarified that the Central directive was as per the Section 8 of the Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Act, which gives special responsibility to the Governor to protect the life, liberty and property of those living in the common capital of Hyderabad.
“It is the responsibility of the Governor to ensure law and order, internal security and security of vital institutions. The Act says the Governor will consult the Council of Ministers of Telangana and exercise his individual judgement while taking any action,” he said, adding that the advisory has not violated the Act in any manner.
