After cold war, Telangana CM shares dais with Governor

Hyderabad, June 28 (IANS) After months of cold war, Telangana Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao on Tuesday visited the Raj Bhavan and shared dais with Governor Tamilisai Soundararajan.

The occasion was the swearing-in of Justice Ujjal Bhuyan as Chief Justice of Telangana High Court.

Setting aside the difference with the governor, the chief minister continued the tradition of attending the swearing-in ceremony of the chief justice.

KCR, as the chief minister is popularly known, exchanged pleasantries with the governor and presented her a bouquet. He greeted Justice Bhuyan and also attended the brief customary meeting with both the governor and the new chief justice.

There were speculations the chief minister will stay away from the ceremony in view of the cold war with the governor and meet the new chief justice separately.

This was KCR's first visit to Raj Bhavan after the strain in the relations between the two leaders.

While Tamilisai alleged that the state government is insulting the Constitutional office of the governor, several state ministers had slammed her for acting like BJP's spokesperson.

The rift between the governor and the chief minister came to the fore in March when the state government dropped the customary governor's address at the commencement of the state budget session of the state legislature. She stated that the state government had not followed the Constitutional convention on the pretext of technical reasons.

The chief minister, his Cabinet colleagues and leaders of ruling Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) had boycotted the pre-Ugadi festivities hosted by the governor at Raj Bhavan in April.
The governor had complained that though she extended the invitations, neither the chief minister nor his ministers or officials attended the celebrations or conveyed their inability to attend.

The governor was also not invited to Ugadi celebrations held at Pragati Bhavan, the official residence of the chief minister.

Earlier, the state government had not invited the governor for the inauguration of the renovated Lakshmi Narasimha Swamy temple at Yadadri.

Tamilisai also alleged that the state government did not follow protocol when she visited Medaram in Mulugu district to attend Sammakka Saralamma jatara, a tribal fair in February.

The governor had complained to the Centre about the state government not following the protocol during her visits.

On June 10, the governor began receiving representations from people by holding aPraja Darbar' at Raj Bhavan. She defended the move saying she wants to act as a bridge between the state government and the public.

She dismissed the criticism that she is crossing her limits. She argued that when she as the highest Constitutional authority was willing to serve people why should she be denied the opportunity.

"Those saying it is unconstitutional should first respect the Constitution," the governor remarked when asked about the statements by leaders of TRS describing her action as unconstitutional.