BJP wades into Telangana versus Andhra Pradesh fight, muddies the water for TRS govt

HYDERABAD: The posers on various state government schemes and actions of the Centre appear to be irking the Telangana government.
While relations between the ruling TRS and BJP have been souring post 2019 Lok Sabha elections, they have further deteriorated now.
The latest flashpoint is the apex council meeting fixed by the Union minister of water resources. Sources in TRS said the government is unhappy with the BJP government at the Centre, which fixed the date of apex council meeting headed by the Union minister of water resources without consulting both Telangana and AP, and with local BJP leaders accusing the government for seeking postponement of the meeting.Chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao had asked the chief secretary to write to the Centre seeking postponement of the meeting after August 20.
“This appears to be deliberate attempt by the BJP government to blame and give impression that though the Centre was willing to resolve the issues on water sharing between the two states, the state government was not ready,” a minister in the government said. “But the TRS government has been asking for resolution of certain issues on water sharing since 2015, but the Centre did not resolve them as per the AP Reorganization Act.”
TRS general secretary, Palla Rajeshwar Reddy, said: “Our government is transparent and ready to provide the details of schemes and accounts. Both the opposition parties BJP and Congress are either trying to stall the projects or delay them. BJP is doing it with the support of its government at the Centre.”
Party sources said this is not the first time, and the Centre has been sending missives on various schemes and issues for the past couple of years. The TRS government was asked to send para wise remarks on the alleged misappropriation of funds in the Society of Elimination of Rural Poverty (SERP) in Panchayat Raj department. “The Centre asked the remarks on the issue based on a BJP leader’s letter without any basis. Generally, Centre seeks clarifications when a responsible public representative, in this case, a BJP leader wrote letter,” a senior party leader said.
“When (BJP leader) Bandi Sanjay was prevented from participating a protest during RTC strike last November, the ministry of home affairs asked report from the police on the incident,” said a TRS leader.
BJP president Bandi Sanjay and TPCC president N Uttam Kumar Reddy alleged that there was a secret understanding between chief ministers of Telangana and Andhra Pradesh. “TRS government blames the Centre for not holding meeting on water issues and it did not respond to the letters seeking agenda points. When the date is fixed, the CM wants postponement, which clearly indicates the secret understanding between the two CMs,” Sanjay said.
He said that when the Centre was providing funds for certain schemes, whether it is Mission Bhagiratha or other schemes, it has every right to ensure proper utilisation of funds.