Centre to maintain status quo on Section 8 of Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Act

Hyderabad: The Centre has decided to maintain status quo on Section 8 of the AP Reorganisation Act and has no plans to issue separate notifications empowering Governor E.S.L. Narasimhan to take charge of Hyderabad’s law and order. The NDA government will also not intervene in the ongoing Telangana ACB probe in the cash-for-vote case. It has, however, asked the Governor to ensure law and order in Hyderabad and both states in the wake of submission of forensic reports and subsequent political fallout if AP Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu is sent an ACB notice.

The Governor briefed Union home minister Rajnath Singh in New Delhi on Friday regarding the current political situation, allegations and counters allegations by both states including purchase of MLAs and phone tapping, demand for strict implementation of Section 8 by the AP Government and its opposition by the Telangana Government, and the current law and order situation.

He told Mr Singh that the situation was well under control in Hyderabad and both states and there were no major untoward incidents – following the cash-for-vote case coming to light or otherwise – in the past one year, barring some stray cases.

The Governor’s meeting with Mr Singh lasted an hour and Union home secretary L.C. Goyal and joint secretary Centre-State Relations Kumar Alok were also present. He also had a one-on-one meeting with Mr Singh and with the MHA officials separately twice.

“Yemi ledu appa (Nothing dear)...It’s a very routine meeting. Nothing sensational,” the Governor told reports in a lighter vein after the meeting. Sources said that the Centre had no plans to issue a separate note to the Governor as was being reported in a section of the media, asking him to take charge of law and order in Hyderabad since it would be caught in legal wrangles and would also be “unconstitutional.”