Telangana and Andhra Pradesh Chief Ministers Meet After Four-Year Gap

Ministers and senior officials from both Telangana and Andhra Pradesh are participating in the meeting, which aims to address issues stemming from the Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Act of 2014.

The long-anticipated meeting between Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu and Telangana Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy commenced on Saturday at Mahatma Jyotirao Phule Praja Bhavan. This session, aimed at addressing inter-state issues, marks the first face-to-face interaction between the two leaders since Mr. Naidu took office last month after the TDP-led NDA's decisive win in the Andhra Pradesh Assembly elections.

Ministers and senior officials from both states attended the meeting, which focused on resolving matters arising from the Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Act of 2014. Among those welcoming Mr. Naidu at Praja Bhavan in Begumpet around 6 p.m. were Chief Minister Revanth Reddy, Deputy Chief Minister Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka, and ministers D. Sridhar Babu and Ponnam Prabhakar. The two Chief Ministers exchanged bouquets before proceeding to the meeting hall.

Representing Telangana were the Chief Minister, Deputy Chief Minister, various ministers, Chief Secretary Santhi Kumari, and other senior officials. The Andhra Pradesh delegation, led by Mr. Naidu, included ministers Kandula Durgesh, Satyaprasad, BC Janardhan Reddy, Chief Secretary Neerabh Kumar Pradesh, and other senior officials.

This gathering marks the first meeting between the Chief Ministers of the Telugu states in four years. Mr. Naidu proposed the meeting on July 1 to amicably address pending issues, and the following day, Revanth Reddy accepted the proposal, inviting him to Hyderabad.

Senior officials from both states, representing departments with unresolved issues for a decade, took part in the discussions. The agenda included matters related to the distribution of assets and liabilities of institutions listed under Schedule IX and X of the Reorganisation Act. Additionally, the meeting aimed to address the issue of pending power dues. Andhra Pradesh is seeking ₹6,742 crore for power supplied to Telangana post-bifurcation, while Telangana is demanding ₹17,828 crore, the amount it spent on power purchases from other states after Andhra Pradesh terminated power purchase agreements with its neighbor.

This meeting has rekindled hopes for a resolution to the long-standing issues between the two states. Revanth Reddy, who previously worked under Chandrababu Naidu as an MLA in the united Andhra Pradesh and later in Telangana, joined the Congress in 2017, charting his own political course.