Revanth Reddy, Chandrababu meet in Hyderabad to discuss post-bifurcation issues

Hyderabad, July 6 (IANS) The much-awaited meeting between Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu and his Telangana counterpart A. Revanth Reddy began at Mahatma Jyotirao Phule Praja Bhavan here on Saturday to discuss the inter-state issues.

Ministers and senior officials from both states are attending the meeting, focussing on the resolution of issues arising out of the Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Act 2014.

Chief Minister Revanth Reddy, Deputy Chief Minister Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka, ministers D. Sridhar Babu, Ponnam Prabhakar and others welcomed Naidu when he arrived at Praja Bhavan in Begumpet around 6 p.m.

The two Chief Ministers exchanged bouquets before walking into a meeting hall for the meeting, the first face-to-face interaction between the two leaders after Naidu assumed office as the Chief Minister last month following the landslide victory of TDP-led NDA in the Andhra Pradesh Assembly elections.

Telangana CM, Deputy CM, some ministers, Chief Secretary Santhi Kumari and senior officials were also attending the meeting on behalf of Telangana.

The Andhra Pradesh delegation led by Naidu includes ministers Kandula Durgesh, Satyaprasad, BC Janardhan Reddy, Chief Secretary Neerabh Kumar Pradesh and senior officials.

This is the first meeting between the chief ministers of the Telugu states in four years. Naidu had proposed the meeting on July 1 to amicably resolve the pending issues and the next day Revanth Reddy accepted the proposal and invited him to Hyderabad.

Senior officials representing the departments whose issues remained unresolved for a decade participated in the deliberations.

The two chief ministers and senior officials from both sides are discussing issues relating to the distribution of assets and liabilities of the institutions under Schedule IX and X of the Reorganisation Act.

The meeting may also discuss the issue relating to pending power dues. While Andhra Pradesh is demanding payment of Rs 6,742 crore for the power supplied by it to Telangana after bifurcation, Telangana insists that Andhra Pradesh pay Rs17,828 crore, the amount Telangana had spent for power purchases from other states after Andhra Pradesh abruptly terminated power purchase agreements with the neighbouring state.

The meeting between the two leaders, who had close association in the past, has raised hopes of finding a solution to the long-pending issues.

Revanth Reddy worked in the TDP as MLA under Chandrababu Naidu in united Andhra Pradesh and also later in Telangana. In 2017, Revanth Reddy charted his own course by joining the Congress.

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