Pals again K Chandrasekhar Rao and Chandrababu Naidu bury their past in 2015

Hyderabad: Telangana State and Andhra Pradesh Chief Ministers — K. Chandrasekhar Rao and N. Chandrababu Naidu — started the year as bitter enemies. But they mellowed down as the year progressed and even had one-on-one meetings more than once, leaving their respective party cadres bemused.

Looking back at 2015, the decision of Mr Naidu to “settle” in Vijayawada, the temporary capital of Andhra Pradesh, besides asking AP officials and employees working in Hyderabad to move to AP as soon as possible, had been seen in political circles as a ruse by Mr Naidu to avoid a case against him in the cash-for-vote scam.

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But though initially the Telangana Chief Minister and ministers promised severe action against Mr Naidu for his alleged involvement in the cash-for-vote scam, things died down following the reported bonhomie among the two warring Chief Ministers.

Mr Chandrasekhar Rao had said that Mr Naidu could not escape legal action in the scam and had stated: “Even Lord Brahma cannot save you (Mr Naidu).” Home minister Nayani Narasimha Reddy had also said that Mr Naidu would be arrested in the case.

On his part, Mr Naidu had challenged the Telangana authorities to do their best. “No one can touch me, if they touch me, their government will collapse,” he had said. AP ministers had even said that the Telangana Chief Minister would be taken to task in the phone-tapping case and was facing imminent arrest.