Naidu, KCR May Come Face To Face On August 15

Governor E S L Narasimhan's customary "At Home" in Raj Bhavan on the occasion of the Independence Day celebrations this year will attract the attention of the people of both the Telugu states of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana.

This will be the second "At Home" hosted by Narasimhan, the Governor of both the Telugu states, for the Chief Ministers and other dignitaries of both AP and Telangana.

Chandrababu Naidu and KCR came face to face on the last occasion in 2014 and tried to put on a façade of bonhomie by shaking hands briefly. However, it will be interesting to see what happens this year, given the bitter animosity after the note-for-vote and phone-tapping controversies involving the two states.

Though the two Chief Ministers had been at loggerheads over various administrative issues like the sharing of power and water resources, the rancour between the two peaked on the eve of the Telangana MLC elections when Telangana TDP MLA Revanth Reddy along with others allegedly tried to woo nominated TRS Anglo-Indian MLA Elvis Stephenson with money for his support for the TDP's nominee.

In a sting operation purported to have been master-minded by the TRS, the TDP MLA and others were caught red-handed on May 31 by ACB officials while allegedly offering huge cash to Stephenson.

This triggered off a raging controversy with the TDP leveling charges against the TRS leadership of phone-tapping and seeking implementation of Section 8 of the A P Reorganization Act in Hyderabad that gives the Governor power over law and order.

Over the last two months the political atmosphere in the two states has been marked by acrimonious allegations and counter-allegations by both the TDP and the TRS leaders.

The 12-day Godavari pushkaralu pushed to the background, albeit temporarily, the war between the two states, but it's all simmering underneath the surface.

Against this backdrop, the upcoming do by the Governor for the political dignitaries of the two states is drawing interest and attention. Will the two CMs come face to face or will one of them skip on some pretext or the other? The At Home hosted by President Pranab Mukherjee at Rashtrapathi Nilayam in Bolarum during his southern sojourn recently had KCR skip it pleading ill-health.

And if the two CMs do make it, will Governor be able to make them sit across the table to resolve various issues?

Thus Raj Bhavan will be the cynosure of all eyes on the occasion of the Independence Day bash on Saturday.