Telangana Chief Minister Hurls Abuse at Chandrababu Naidu Over Power

Hyderabad: Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao has slammed his counterpart in Andhra Pradesh, N Chandrababu Naidu for lying about a power-sharing agreement between the two states, calling him "arrogant" and a "cheat". KCR, as he is popularly known, has also threatened to move the Supreme Court, alleging that Andhra Pradesh was denying power-starved Telangana its "rightful share of electricity".

After a cabinet meeting on Friday, KCR alleged that Mr Naidu was violating the provisions of the Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Act according to which 53.89 per cent share in electricity should be given to Telangana for projects existing before June 2, 2014 - the day the state came into being. He also demanded the Centre's intervention,alleging that the Andhra Pradesh government had deprived his state of upto 82 million units in thermal generation and 282 million units in hydel generation from the Lower Sileru project which was awarded to Telangana as part of the bifurcation process.

Mr Naidu, who heads the TDP, had earlier hit out at KCR for trying to portray his government as a villain in a bid to cover up the Telangana administration's failures. In an indirect reference to the power crisis in Telangana, Mr Naidu said his government had the foresight to anticipate problems on the power front post the bifurcation and had accordingly, initiated steps to ensure uninterrupted supply for two years.

In response, KCR caustically remarked, "We have far-sightedness, but don't have the sight which thieves have."

On Tuesday, there was violence on the streets of Nalgonda and Mahabubnagar in Telangana as a fallout of the row between the two states over power generation at the 900-megawatt Srisailam Left Bank Power House. Cadres of KCR's Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) also attacked a TDP office in Nalgonda and set the furniture on fire.

On Friday, TDP leaders from Telangana urged Governor ESL Narasimhan to intervene and convene a meeting between chief ministers of both states to sort out differences. They also submitted two representations relating to the attacks on them by ruling TRS workers and the problems faced by farmers due to power shortage.