Governor will join TRS, condemns Congress

Hyderabad, Jan 27 (INN): The Congress party has strongly condemned Governor E.S.L. Narasimhan for directly praising ruling party in Telangana in his Republic Day speech.

"The Governor has made multiple references in praise of Chief Minister K. Chandrashekhar Rao and ruling party in his Republic Day speech. He sounded more like a TRS leader than the Constitutional Head of the State, said Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee (TPCC) Treasurer Gudur Narayana Reddy in a media statement on Sunday.

Gudur Narayana Reddy said that the Governor's speech lacked any vision and it was full of extracts from his own speech made in the Telangana Legislature on January 19. He made specific reference on TRS victory in recent elections twice without taking its name. "Though it is common for the Governors to appreciate a few good things being done by the State Government, but Narasimhan has decided his entire speech to KCR and his team. It appeared that Narasimhan read out a speech written by PRO of TRS party and not by the Raj Bhavan officials. In an apparent bid to please KCR, the Governor certified Telangana as the best welfare State in the country. He even gave wrong figures of spending by the State Government on various schemes. There was not a single reference to issues or challenges concerning common man in Telangana. It will be remembered in history as one of the worst speeches by a Governor," he said.

The Congress leader alleged that Narasimhan has been lobbying hard to get another extension in his term which will expire in June this year. "Narasimhan is already among the longest serving Governors in India. He was appointed as the Governor of Andhra Pradesh in December 2009 by the then UPA regime. After the bifurcation, he became the Governor of both the Telugu States. Narasimhan's inclination towards TRS clearly shows that either he is seeking extension of another term or planning to join TRS party immediately after retirement," he said.

Gudur Narayana Reddy said Narasimhan has brought disrespect to his post by not doing his job honestly. "He remained a mute spectator to the open violation of Constitution by the TRS when it engineered defection by 25 opposition MLAs. He never reacted on a single out of hundreds of petition submitted to him by the opposition parties on major issues. He never cross-checked the figures supplied to him by the State Government for his speeches on various occasions. He simply followed the dictats of KCR and never entertained anything against the ruling party," he said.

The Congress leader advised Narasimhan to do a serious introspection on his behaviour and perform his duties as per the Constitution during the last few months left in his term. "He must realise that he represents Raj Bhavan and not TRS Bhavan. Therefore, he must sound and act in a completely impartial manner, he said.