Pranab feels heat on both sides of divide

Hyderabad: President of India Pranab Mukherjee faced the heat of the ongoing turmoil in Andhra Pradesh when leaders of various parties from either side of the political divide met him at Raj Bhavan and put forth their arguments for and against the proposed bifurcation of the State.

The President arrived in the city for a two-day visit to attend the passing out parade of IPS probationer at National Police Academy on Tuesday.

The Seemaandhra leaders reportedly complained to the President how the Centre was seeking to divide the State by subverting the Constitution and also the democratic norms.

Chief Minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy had a separate meeting with the President at Raj Bhavan where he was said to have made a strong pitch against the bifurcation of the State.

He recalled his recent letter to the President in which he accused the Government of India of'trivializing' the State bifurcation process by resorting to 'shortcut' routes, without doing any 'homework'.

Seemaandhra TDP appealed to the President to keep the state united if the Government of India could not render equal justice to all regions in the bifurcation process.

'We have requested the President to let the state be united if the Centre could not do equal justice to all regions in the bifurcation process. We also complained to him about the unilateral manner in which the Centre was going ahead with the division process,' TDP senior MLA Payyavula Keshav told reporters after the meeting.

The YSR Congress wanted withdrawal of the Union Cabinet's decision to 'divide the first linguistic state without any basis.' Though YSR Congress Party chief Y S Jaganmohan Reddy did not speak to media after his meeting with the President, the party released copy of the memorandum he submitted seeking withdrawal of the Centre's decision to carve out Telangana state.

'Unfortunately, the present action of Union Government for creating Telangana state not only does not conform to any of the established conventions and practices but also goes against the recommendations of Justice Srikrishna Committee, which recommended that the best option is to keep the state united,' the YSRC said, adding that the decision of the Union government was arbitrary and ultra vires to the Constitution.

Congress leaders from Telangana too called on the President and presented their version on the bifurcation. They explained the necessity to create a separate state and how the concerns of Seemaandhra people could be addressed through established mechanisms.

Earlier, governor E S L Narasimhan, chief minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy, deputy chief minister C Damodar Rajanarasimha, several Union ministers and state ministers, MPs and state legislators received the President at Begumpet Airport.

He drove to Raj Bhavan, the official residence of the governor, where he will spend the night. Police had made tight security arrangements at the airport. Traffic was diverted on the busy road from the old airport to Raj Bhavan.