PM calls for Maha, AP Babli meet on Aug. 2

The Prime Minister, Dr Manmohan Singh, has convened a joint meeting of the Chief Ministers of Andhra Pradesh and Maharashtra on August 2 to find a political solution to the Babli project row.

The Prime Minister’s Office on Thursday sent a communication to the AP Chief Minister, Mr K. Rosaiah, in this regard. Thanking the Prime Minister for heeding the request of the all party delegation to find a political solution, Mr Rosaiah told mediapersons that he would convene an all party meeting on August 1 to discuss the strategy to be adopted at the meeting with his Maharashtra counterpart.

When asked whether he was hopeful of the joint meeting, Mr Rosaiah said he always had a positive attitude and hoped that the state would benefit from it. At the same time, the state government has decided to effectively “expose” the neighbouring state in the meeting amid apprehensions that Maharashtra might take cover under an ongoing case in the Supreme Court. “We pressed for a political solution after Maharashtra went ahead and erected gates violating an interim order of the Supreme Court,” said a senior official.

The Chief Minister added that in a federal system the Prime Minister has to play the role of an adjudicator and cannot leave the neighbouring states to wage war against each other. “We feel happy that the Prime Minister convened the meeting and we will put forth our views strongly,” he said.