Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao today called on Governor E S L Narasimhan and requested him to take up the Hyderabad High Court bifurcation issue with the Centre and help find an amicable solution to the escalating Telangana lawyers' protest over the suspension of judges and the appointment of Andhra origin judges to Telangana, and ensure a speedy bifurcation of the High Court.
The meeting assumes significance as KCR's Andhra Pradesh counterpart Chandrababu Naidu responded to the issue in New Delhi after his China tour and met with Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, Home Minister Rajnath Singh and others.
KCR is learnt to have complained against Naidu for adopting delaying tactics on the High Court bifurcation and throwing the ball into the Centre's court saying that AP had already allotted land for the HC in Amaravathi.
Though the Telangana government offered to share the premises of the existing High Court and had also shown land for a new High Court complex, the AP government did not react and deliberately dragged the issue for two years, KCR is understood to have informed the Governor.
KCR apparently appealed to the Governor to take up the issue with the Centre for an immediate solution though Union Law Minister Sadananda Gowda recently ruled out any role by the Centre in the High Court bifurcation.
The Telangana CM and Governor discussed the contentious issue even as Acting Chief Justice Bhosale asked the lawyers and judges to end the strike and resume duties, and warned of serious consequences if they did not.
The Governor learnt to have assured KCR that he would take up the issue with the Centre as he had already held separate meetings with Acting CJ Dilip Bhosale and Telangana Advocate-General K Ramakrishna Reddy on the issue.
It is likely that the Governor will visit the national capital if the situation needed it.
Meanwhile, the protests of the Telangana advocates are continuing unabated.