ESL attracts Oppn ire for KCR eulogy

Governor ESL Narasimhan, describing Kalvakuntla Chandrasekhar Rao as Kaleshwaram Chandrasekhar Rao and Harish Rao as Kaleshwara Rao, praises them for their commitment in executing the massive Kaleshwaram project

Hyderabad: Governor of two Telugu states of AP and Telangana ESL Narasimhan on Sunday courted another controversy with his eulogy of Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao and Irrigation Minister T Harish Rao during his visit to the Kaleshwaram project site on Saturday.

Narasimhan accompanied by his wife visited the Kaleshwaram Lift Irrigation Scheme works and after Harish Rao explained to him how the state was going about in implementing it, the Governor praised both the Chief Minister and the Irrigation Minister sky high. 

He described Chandrasekhar Rao as Kaleshwaram Chandrasekhar Rao and Harish Rao as Kaleshwara Rao for their commitment in executing the massive project.

The Congress, which has been angry with the Governor for ‘pulling them up for providing him inaccurate information when they submitted a memorandum on the murder of a village revenue assistant’, alleged that the Governor was not impartial and was heavily on the side of the Chief Minister. They said they would call on the President and submit a memorandum to him on how partisan Governor ESL had become.

On Sunday, the Telangana Congress leaders burst out at Narasimhan wondering if the Governor would rename Raj Bhavan as TRS Bhavan. They advised him to keep in mind that he was occupying a very high constitutional position and that it would be better if he worked within its confines. 

Said senior Congress leader V Hanumantha Rao: “Praising KCR and Harish Rao even before the project is commissioned is objectionable.  It was unfortunate that the Governor did not ask the CM why the name of the project which was originally christened after the architect of the Indian Constitution BR Ambedkar was changed. Another leader Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka said ESL had lowered the dignity of the gubernatorial post by showering praises on KCR and Harish Rao.

Not very long ago, the Andhra Pradesh unit of the BJP took up cudgels against the Governor for writing to the AP government seeking a clarification as to why it had not addressed the queries that he had raised when the NALA Bill, after it was passed in the Assembly, was sent to him for his assent.

The Governor wanted to know why the Revenue department was not involved in the change of land use since it might lead to misuse. Since the Governor raised the objection to the Bill and returned it without giving assent, the BJP took up the issue stating that the delay in amendment was hurting the development works. They in fact raised the demand that there should be a Governor exclusively for AP and that the present Governor was acting in a partisan way by approving a similar Bill of the TS government and raising objections about the similar AP Bill. 

Though the TDP was unhappy, it did not voice its protest, but the BJP had done the job for the TDP leaders. After the letter kicked up a storm, the Governor put his signature on the Bill and Raj Bhavan sources clarified that the Governor had only sought a clarification and that the Bill was not sent back for the second time. The Raj Bhavan sources said as regards Telangana, since the state has been formed out of AP, it could adopt a legislation of the parent state and that it had not come to the Governor's table for assent. Therefore, the sources said, the question of the Governor giving assent to the TS Bill did not arise.