Governor’s meet with PMO officials hints at Prez Rule in AP

New Delhi, Oct 24: Governor ESL Narasimhan’s on-going visit to the national capital has once against raised speculations that the Central Government might consider imposing President’s Rule in Andhra Pradesh before introducing Telangana Bill during monsoon session of Parliament.

The Governor, who met President of India Pranab Mukherjee, UPA Chairperson and Congress president Sonia Gandhi and members of Group of Minister (GoM) on Telangana on Wednesday, had a series of meetings with other important functionaries of the Central Government on Thursday. He held deliberations with the officials of Prime Minister’s Office here although the details of what transpired during the meeting could not be ascertained.

Prior to the meeting with the PMO officials, the Governor met Union Minister Kavuri Sambasiva Rao and discussed the latest situation in Andhra Pradesh. He also scheduled to meet Defense Minister AK Antony and AICC Vice-President Rahul Gandhi. Sources say that the Governor might also meet Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh on Friday after the latter returns from the foreign tour.

Sources say that the Governor, who is on a three-day tour, discussed the modalities of bifurcation of Andhra Pradesh and formation of Telangana State.

The Congress-led UPA Government, which looks determined to bifurcate Andhra Pradesh, wants to ensure that the Telangana Bill gets passed in Parliament during monsoon session. However, with changing political situation in the State, the journey of Telangana Bill up to the Lok Sabha would not be smooth. Therefore, imposition of President’s Rule is being explored as a possible option to facilitate the formation of Telangana State although this possibility was ruled out by several leaders including Union Home Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde.

- INN