KCR Writes To PM Modi & Asks If He Knows About MHA’s Plans On Hyderabad

CM KCR on Saturday shot off a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi rejecting the Ministry of Home Affairs’ letter’s proposals to the State Government on Friday handing over state subjects of law & order to the Governor. The CM pointed out that bypassing the council of ministers by the Governor, as suggested by the letter, is neither sanctioned by the Constitution nor the AP Reorganisation Act.

The CM doubted if the PM knew about the contents of the letter. In his two-page letter, Mr. Rao told the Prime Minister that he was sure that the letter was sent without the PM Modi’s clearance. “Therefore, I appeal to you to look into the matter and order that the instructions be rescinded forthwith in accordance with the democratic traditions and conventions of our federal structure,” KCR said in the letter.

Sometime back, when TRS MPs met the union home minister Rajnath Singh, the Minister expressed ignorance over a circular the Centre sent then on the same matter, providing the same norms now rejected by the state government.

KCR drew the attention of Mr. Modi to certain parts of the letter and pointed out that any attempt to micro-manage the administration through Governor, bypassing the Council of Ministers of Telangana, is a direct affront to the federal polity of the country. He wondered how the Governor could be given authority to even post Station House Officers (SHOs), ACPs and DCPs in Hyderabad, for a period of 10 years, and what could be the objective of it. 

The CM noted that the Governor had to function on the advice of the Council of Ministers of a State as per the Constitution and added that even the Section 8 (3) of the Reorganisation Act reiterated the same.

The State Government has been maintaining that it will abide by the AP Reorganisation Act and would co-opt the Governor’s concerns on law & order, as and when they arise, as specified in the act. But wholesale transfer of law & order function itself to the Governor is going over and beyond the Act’s provisions, contends the Government. In short, the Telangana State Government mad sit clear it will abide by the Reorganisation Act but not the Centre’s baseless circular, which has no constitutional basis to start with.