Governor E.S.L. Narasimhan on Sunday evening issued an order allotting those government buildings and bungalows in Hyderabad that are in the custody of Andhra Pradesh government to Telangana.
The move followed a resolution of the Council of Ministers of Telangana headed by Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao earlier in the day, requesting the Governor to use his good offices to prevail upon the Andhra Pradesh government and its Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy to hand over the buildings which were constructed in erstwhile Andhra Pradesh and lying idle.
The Cabinet also resolved that the Andhra Pradesh government may be allotted one building to accommodate its police establishment and another building for rest of its offices for their exclusive use.
By his order later, Mr. Narasimhan said the contents of the resolution be put in place by initiating necessary measures. He requested the Telangana government to waive all outstanding claims of property tax and public utility charges levied on the AP government for keeping the buildings.
There are several buildings and bungalows, including some in the Secretariat, which were transferred to Andhra Pradesh as per State Reorganisation Act on shared basis between the two States depending on population. The Andhra Pradesh government enjoyed lien on the properties till 2024 when Hyderabad will cease to be common capital of the two States.
Although the AP government was not using the buildings as its capital had moved to Amaravati, it had kept them idle but paid power and other public utility charges. The maintenance of the buildings was badly affected as they remained idle. In these circumstances, the Telangana government had initiated a dialogue with Andhra Pradesh at the mediation of the Governor to take possession of the buildings in the previous term of government. Both sides had held a few sittings but they had not yielded any result.
Meanwhile, Mr. Chandrasekhar Rao met Mr. Narasimhan at the Raj Bhavan but sources said their meeting had nothing to do with the resolution. Mr. Rao later hailed the handing over of buildings to Telangana and said the give-and-take approach of the two States would continue.
The possibility of the Telangana government seeking possession of the buildings was expected in view of the friendly relationship between Mr. Rao and Mr. Jagan Mohan Reddy ever since the YSR Congress Party emerged victorious in the Assembly elections. Their ties were such that Mr. Reddy called on Mr. Rao here before he was sworn in and Mr. Rao visited Vijayawada for the swearing in. They also met at the Iftaar hosted Mr. Narasimhan on Saturday.