AP Urges President To Intervene For Section 8

Upping the ante in the fight with the Telangana government, a group of Andhra Pradesh ministers led by Deputy Chief Minister K E Krishnamurthy today called on President Pranab Mukherjee at Bollaram's Rashtrapathi Bhavan and urged him to invoke Section 8 of the A P Reorganization Act in Hyderabad, that gives powers over law and order in Hyderabad to the Governor.

They submitted a memorandum for the invoking of the section, citing the phone-tapping case, and the sharing of commercial and other establishments under Schedules 9 and 10 of the A P Reorganisation Act in Hyderabad.

"We urged the President to hand over the law and order maintenance powers to Governor E S L Narasimhan to provide safety and security to the people of our state and those of others," Krishnamurthy said to the media.

Krishnamurthy maintained that AP was not ready to heed to the supremacy of the Telangana government. He flayed Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao for provoking the people of AP.

"KCR should exert pressure on the Centre for an amendment on Section 8," he said. "We will issue orders to implement the AP Labour Act in Hyderabad."

Andhra Pradesh Chief Secretary I Y R Krishna Rao also called on the President and submitted a memorandum seeking the invocation of Section 8 as his government was not able to discharge its duties in the embarrassing situation prevailing in Hyderabad.

Citing police high-handedness and obstructions to IAS officials including Chandana Khan, Sam Bob and Ramanjaneyulu by the Telangana police at the behest of the Telangana government, Rao sought that Section 8 be invoked for the smooth functioning of the AP Government.

He also said in the memorandum that unless Section 8 was imposed, AP's officials and employees would not be able to discharge their duties peacefully, and that it would instill confidence among the people of other states in Hyderabad.

Rao also sought the apportioning of commercial establishments under Schedule 9 and other institutions under Schedule 10 of the A P Reorganization Act as per the population ratio. (NSS)