TDP president Chandrababu Naidu recently revealed that in 2014, he insisted that he would only take oath as Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh if seven mandals from Telangana were transferred to Andhra Pradesh. Speaking at the TDPLP meeting in Amaravati, Naidu shared details of the political maneuvering that took place.
He reminded the attendees that both he and Narendra Modi came to power in 2014, with Naidu becoming the Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh and Modi becoming the Prime Minister of India. Naidu stated that he refused to take oath as Chief Minister unless the seven mandals of Telangana, which were prone to flooding due to the Polavaram project, were merged with Andhra Pradesh. Following this, the Modi government issued an ordinance to merge these mandals into Andhra Pradesh during its first cabinet meeting.
On July 11, 2014, the NDA government introduced a bill to amend the Andhra Pradesh Reorganization Act, leading to the transfer of seven mandals from the Bhadrachalam and Paloncha revenue divisions of Khammam district to Andhra Pradesh. This decision was met with strong opposition from the ruling BRS government in Telangana, which led protests and observed a state-wide bandh.
The Telangana government later approached the Supreme Court in an attempt to reverse the decision. Despite repeated appeals from then-Chief Minister KCR to Prime Minister Modi, the central government did not reverse the transfer. The Congress party has promised in its manifesto to return these mandals to Telangana if it comes to power at the Centre.
Despite Naidu’s revelations about the BJP and TDP’s role in the merger of the seven mandals, there has been a noticeable silence from the Congress government and party leaders in Telangana. Concerns persist among Telangana residents that Naidu, a significant figure in the NDA government, may continue to act against the interests of Telangana.