President flooded with representations

President Pranab Mukherjee who arrived here on Monday evening had a hectic schedule and was flooded with requests from Telangana and Seemandhra leaders who were for and against bifurcation of the state. A delegation of the YSRCP leaders led by the party president Y S Jaganmohan Reddy called on the President and presented him a memorandum urging him to keep the state united and to help provide the farmers affected by the rain ravage in the state with adequate compensation.

A delegation of TDP leaders headed by Payavula Keshav also met the President. They told the President that "if equal justice is not possible, then the state should not be divided." He said the TDP delegation requested the President to recall the bitter memories of the division of Bengal. “We have pleaded with him not to allow the Centre to go with its plans of dividing a vibrant state like AP for selfish political gains of Congress,” he said. Telangana Congress leaders also called on the President and urged him to see that the process of carving separate Telangana was completed at the earliest.

The T Congress leaders met the President under the leadership of Union minister Sarve Satyanarayana, Deputy Chief Minister Damodar Rajanarasimha and the Minister for Panchayat Raj K Jana Reddy. Talking to media after the meeting, Sarve Satyanarayana said that President had told them that he was aware of the issue of bifurcation of AP and that he would go as per the Constitutional norms and procedures. Former PCC president D Srinivas had a separate meeting with the Mukherjee. During his one-on-one meeting, the senior politico from Telangana is understood to have tried to apprise Pranab of the prevailing political situation in the state.

The President arrived in Hyderabad by a special flight on a one day official visit on Monday night. He would address the passing out parade of the IPS probationers at Sardar Vallabhai Patel National Police Academy (NPA) on Tuesday morning and leave the city same day in the afternoon

Governor ESL Narasimhan, Chief Minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy, Deputy Chief Minister C Damodar Rajanarasimha and Legislative Council Chairman Chakrapani, Assembly Speaker N Manohar, GHMC Mayor Majid Hussain, State Major Industries minister J Geeta Reddy, Chief Secretary PK Mohanthy, DGP B Prasada Rao and officials of the armed forces welcomed Mukherjee at Begumpet Airport. At the reception, he was received by Union Minister for Textiles K Sambasiva Rao, union minister of state for Petroleum Panbaka laxmi and state ministers K Jana Reddy, D Sridhar babu, DK Aruna, P Satyanarayana, P Lakshmaiah, Sunitha laxma Reddy and others.

Congress MPs Anjan Kumar Yadav and P Prabhakar and TRS MP G Vinod were also present. President then drove to Governor's official residence Raj Bhavan for night halt. Later Chief Minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy on Monday had a brief oneon- one meeting with President Pranab Mukherjee soon after his arrival in Hyderabad. Though according to CMO it was just a courtesy call and has no political significance, Kiran is reported to have explained to the President about the agitation in Seemandhra region opposing the bifurcation and how the Centre was going ahead without addressing the problems that would arise after the division of the state