Actor and Jana Sena Party founder Pawan Kalyan on Monday asked the governments of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana to sort out contentious issues amicably and said: “My concern is about whether the two Governments have the luxury of playing political games at a time when their States are facing problems on numerous counts, post bifurcation.
The exercise on key issues such as division of assets is not complete yet.” The previous UPA Government and the NDA which was in Opposition then were responsible for bifurcation, the exercise which put Andhra Pradesh at the loser’s end.“Andhra Pradesh was given a raw deal. The Government should focus on issues such as construction of the new capital in 10 years, the time during which Hyderabad will be a joint capital according to reorganisation Act,” he said. On Section 8, Mr. Kalyan said he was personally against the controversial provision which would be required only in the case of civil unrest. The demand for intervention of the Central Government to ensure its implementation was not proper as it was tantamount to handing over the powers of the State to the Governor which was against the federal spirit. “Moreover, don’t take away the happiness of people in achieving Telangana by insisting on the implementation of Section 8. It is for Telangana Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao to instil confidence among the AP people living here,” he said. He did not react on the cash-for-vote episode involving TDP’s Telangana MLA A. Revanth Reddy claiming that the matter was under the purview of the court and he would not like to make a comment for or against Mr. Reddy. The Jana Sena founder was equally critical of the phone tapping episode claiming it was a serious issue and criticised the parties for their efforts to encourage defections.
