HYDERABAD: The next chapter of an ongoing cold war between the Telangana state government and Governor Dr Tamilisai Soundararajan is expected to unfold in the backdrop of the severe flooding of the Godavari river, with Chief Minister K. Chandrashekar Rao and the Governor planning to visit Bhadradri-Kothagudem district on Sunday.
This will be the first time that the Chief Minister and the Governor will be visiting the same district, on the same day, but separately.
And in an apparent continuation of Chandrashekar Rao and Dr Soundararajan not seeing eye to eye, the two will be visiting the district separately — Chandrashekar Rao by helicopter that will leave from Warangal on Sunday morning, and Dr Soundararajan leaving on Saturday night by a train, the Goutami Express, from Secunderabad, to reach Manuguru early on Sunday morning.
Chandrashekar Rao too left Hyderabad on Saturday evening by road and reached Warangal, from where he will undertake the aerial survey.
It may be recalled that the Governor had previously hinted at the state not providing her with a helicopter for her visits to other districts. This is the second time she has taken a train ride to the Bhadradri-Kothagudem district. The first was in April this year.
The Telangana Chief Minister and the Governor have not had the best of relationships ever since she turned down the TRS government’s proposal to nominate Padi Kaushik Reddy as an MLC towards the end of last year. Though the two met formally during the recent swearing-in ceremony of Telangana High Court Chief Justice Ujjal Bhuyan at the Raj Bhavan in June, it remains the only face-to-face meeting between the two in several months.
The Governor, on multiple occasions, made it clear that the Telangana government was not according to her even the basic courtesies during her visits to different parts of the state, and that it ignored the protocols to be followed on issues related to her office. She had also briefed Union home minister Amit Shah on this issue.
While the Chief Minister never reacted to her comments, several TRS ministers and party leaders criticised her, alleging that she was politicising her office and even went to the extent of alluding to her as an agent of the Bharatiya Janata Party.
On Sunday, Chandrashekar Rao is expected to fly over the Kadem dam in Nirmal district, and along the Godavari river’s course till Bhadrachalam, one of the worst-hit towns by the flood in the river. At Bhadrachalam, the Chief Minister, according to his office, will be going around the town accompanied by minister Puvvada Ajay Kumar, TRS MLAs, and senior district officials to get first-hand information on the situation.
The Governor’s office, meanwhile, said despite her scheduled visit to attend President of India Ram Nath Kovind’s farewell dinner in New Delhi on Saturday, she spoke with the President and apprised him of the severe flood situation in the state, and informed him about the urgency in visiting the flood-affected areas in Bhadradri-Kothagudem district.
The Governor was “moved by the plight of the flood-affected people in and around Bhadrachalam,” and ‘cancelled her visit to New Delhi’,” her office said.
She also asked the Indian Red Cross Society, and ESIC Medical College teams to offer medical and other relief measures to people in shelter camps and other flood-affected areas.
Both the Chief Minister and the Governor are expected to visit shelter camps and interact with the people. Dr Soundararajan also appealed to people and organisations to “come to the aid of the flood affected people by generously donating, carrying out relief measures, and for extending possible humanitarian help.”
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