The State Governor E S L Narasimhan has a hectic schedule in New Delhi, holding a series of meetings with the UPA leaders on the modalities of bifurcation of Andhra Pradesh.
As part of the mission, he met the officials of the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) on Thursday and held parleys, focusing on the law and order situation in the state and the issues that might crop up after the division of the state.
He is scheduled to meet the members of the Group of Ministers (GoM) on Telangana and the Congress Vice-President Rahul Gandhi later in the day.
Earlier, Narasimhan also met senior Congress leader and Union Minister Kavuri Sambasiva Rao.
For the last two days, the Governor has been meeting several leaders of the UPA government and also called on the President Pranab Mukherjee. He has submitted his assessment of the ground situation in the state and gave suggestions on how to go about the division process and handle the political and law and order fallout of the decision.
According to sources, the Governor recommended making Hyderabad a Union Territory as it might soothe the ruffled feelings of a majority of the Seemandhra leaders and people and thus help in the smooth formation of a Telangana State.
However, the Congress top brass has clearly indicated that declaring Hyderabad a UT is not a likely option, as it would have serious repercussions in the Telangana region.
The Governor's meetings with Union Home Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde and Finance Minister P Chidambaram on Wednesday are significant as both the Central ministers are part of the GoM which has been mandated to work out the modalities of bifurcation.
The GoM, which had held two meetings, will begin its crucial exercise of working out the details from its next meeting on November 7 when the various State and Central ministers as well as the common public would submit its final feedback.
If the Centre has its way, Narsimhan is all set to play a crucial role in controlling administration and law and order in Hyderabad in the post-bifurcation period when it will be a joint capital for Telangana and residuary State of Andhra Pradesh.
He was summoned to Delhi for consultations before the crucial phase begins for the creation of Telangana. He also met AICC in-charge for Andhra affairs Digvijay Singh, evoking criticism from the opposition parties.
It is said that the UPA leadership is toying with the idea of making Narasimhan as the Governor of both Telangana and Seemandhra States.
Since it was decided that Hyderabad should be made a joint capital for a period of 10 years and with Narasimhan being the Governor of both the States, he would be asked to handle the administration and law and order machinery during this period.
