For the first time in four years, the Chief Ministers of Telangana and Andhra Pradesh met to discuss pressing inter-state issues.
The meeting, held at Mahatma Jyotirao Phule Praja Bhavan on Saturday, marked a significant step towards resolving disputes stemming from the Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Act of 2014.
Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu and Telangana Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy, along with ministers and senior officials from both states, convened to address unresolved issues. The session commenced with Chief Minister Revanth Reddy, Deputy Chief Minister Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka, and ministers D. Sridhar Babu and Ponnam Prabhakar greeting Naidu upon his arrival at Praja Bhavan in Begumpet around 6 PM.
In a cordial exchange, the two leaders presented each other with bouquets before entering the meeting hall. This face-to-face discussion was the first since Naidu took office last month following the TDP-led NDA's landslide victory in the Andhra Pradesh Assembly elections.
Representing Telangana at the meeting were the Chief Minister, Deputy Chief Minister, several ministers, Chief Secretary Santhi Kumari, and other senior officials. The Andhra Pradesh delegation included ministers Kandula Durgesh, Satyaprasad, BC Janardhan Reddy, Chief Secretary Neerabh Kumar Pradesh, and senior officials.
The meeting aimed to amicably resolve long-standing issues, particularly those related to the distribution of assets and liabilities of institutions listed under Schedule IX and X of the Reorganisation Act. Discussions also covered pending power dues, with Andhra Pradesh demanding ₹6,742 crore for power supplied to Telangana post-bifurcation, while Telangana insisted on a ₹17,828 crore payment for power purchases made after Andhra Pradesh terminated power purchase agreements with it.
This meeting, proposed by Naidu on July 1 and accepted by Revanth Reddy the following day, saw participation from senior officials from various departments to deliberate on unresolved matters. The historic interaction between the two leaders, who once shared a close association, has sparked optimism about finding solutions to these enduring issues.
Revanth Reddy, formerly a TDP MLA under Chandrababu Naidu in united Andhra Pradesh and later in Telangana, joined the Congress in 2017, charting his own political path.