Telangana governor Tamilisai Soundararajan condemned an alleged attack on YSRTP activists and said their party president YS Sharmila met her and sought her intervention on the matter on Friday. The governor said the state government was acting like a dictator, and the state police had “orders from the top not to respect the governor".
In an exclusive interview to CNN-News18, Soundarajan said Sharmila asked her to seek a report from the state government on the attack on party activists during her ongoing ‘padyatra’. “Today Smt Sharmila met me and complained (about the attack). Women leaders should be treated in a dignified manner. This is highly condemnable," she said.
Sharmila met the governor at Raj Bhavan, along with her party leaders, and alleged that the ruling TRS was behind the “attack" on Monday near Warangal.
The governor alleged the state police had “orders from the top not to respect the governor", and that the director general of police did not respect her office when she asked for a report on the matter.
“When I heard this news, I wanted a report from the DGP. Not only this incident, but there are other problems. Whenever there are such incidents, I always ask for a report and, when I do that, they don’t give respect to this office. They have orders from the top not to respect the governor. The government is acting like a dictator," she added.
On the state government saying she was delaying important bills, Soundarajan said she will not accept such allegations as she was the one who had repeatedly told the government that 14 vice-chancellor posts were lying vacant. “Definitely not. I won’t accept the allegations because I was the one who repeatedly told them that 14 vice-chancellor posts are vacant. I need some time as I have written to the UGC and communicated with academicians as I am not satisfied with how they are making these recruitments. I am not delaying the bills, I am evaluating them," she said.
Soundarajan further said she had no hope of an investigation into her charge that her phone was being tapped. “What hope do I have? Nobody will respond. The DGP won’t give me a report. Their office won’t communicate with me on anything. I am left out. If I write letters, there won’t be any response," she said.
A TRS minister recently accused Soundarajan of “behaving more like a BJP leader than a governor". Having been mired in a row with the K Chandrashekar Rao-led government for some time now, the governor has been accused of being “pro-BJP" while many in the ruling party have alleged that the Raj Bhavan was the “second party office of the BJP".
“On what basis is he (the minister) expressing this view? How does he know this? The people of Telangana view me as the governor. I have met the people and expressed my views. The people greet and respect me as a governor. But what about the state government? Do they show any respect towards me?" she asked in response.
On similar state government and governor clashes in opposition-ruled states, Soundarajan alleged that it was the state government that was politicising matters. “Take Telangana for example, if the ruling party decides it should oppose the central government for political gains, they are making allegations against the governor’s post, which is constitutional in nature. The activities of the chief minister and the state government should be evaluated. How are they following rules if they have no respect for a constitutional office?" the governor asked.
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