Home Ministry Summons Governor Over Section 8

Even as Governor E S L Narasimhan rushed to New Delhi after a call from the Union Ministry of Home Affairs, the investigation into the Revanth Reddy "note-for-vote" scandal, which is hanging like a Damocles' sword over AP Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu, seemed to be reaching a climax.

It is pertinent to recall here how the demand for invoking Section 8 of the A P Reorganization Act in Hyderabad, which gives the Telangana Governor jurisdiction over the law and order administration in Hyderabad, triggered off an unprecedented slugfest between the two Telugu states of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana.

Pouring fuel on the fire was the alleged advice of the Attorney-General of India to the Governor in this regard, further escalating the war of words between the two states.

As the issue led to an acrimonious debate in political and official circles, the Union Law Minister made it amply clear that no advice or clarification was given to the Governor by the Centre as was being speculated.

Despite the statement by the Union Law Minister to soothe the ruffled feelings in Telangana, the sudden call from the MHA to the Governor to be available in New Delhi for discussions has raised many an eyebrow.

Narasimhan, who is the Governor for both AP and Telangana, is expected to be in the national capital for two days. He is likely to meet top MHA officials, including the Union Home Secretary, as also Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh. He is also likely to call on President Pranab Mukherjee.

The MHA and other Central leaders are expected to apprise themselves of the current situation in both the states in the wake of the note-for-vote scandal and the phone-tapping allegations.

After ascertaining the true picture prevailing in the two states, the Centre is likely to give guidelines to the Governor to prevent the two states from getting on a collision course.

Thus the focus is on what roadmap the Centre will provide to the Governor to defuse the prevailing uncertainty in the two Telugu states.

Meanwhile, the ACB, which is probing the explosive scandal in which TDP MLA Revanth Reddy and two others were arrested on May 31 for allegedly trying to bribe Anglo-Indian nominated MLA Elvis Stephenson for his vote during the Telangana MLC elections, filed a memo in the ACB Court at Nampally on Thursday seeking possession of certain hard disks and tapes, and the report submitted by the Forensic Science Laboratory (FSL).

The FSL submitted its preliminary report to the ACB Special Court on Wednesday after examining 14 audio and video tapes seized during a sting operation at the residence of the nominated MLA and after the arrest of Revanth Reddy and two others. Since the report by the FSL is considered as crucial evidence, the ACB wanted possession of it to pursue its probe to the logical end. Based on this, the ACB is likely to issue notices to some more TDP leaders, including the AP Chief Minister. (NSS)