President Pranab Mukherji appears to be terribly upset with Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao for his confrontationist attitude towards his neighbouring Andhra Pradesh government.
It was evident from the way Pranab took potshots at KCR at the release of Maharashtra Governor K Vidyasagar Rao’s book Uniki at HICC on Friday.
In fact, the President turned otherwise when KCR was trying to keep him in good humour on the dais.
He even ignored KCR who lavished praises on Pranab for signing on the AP Reorganisation Act forming the Telangana State.
In his speech, Pranab virtually advised KCR to maintain friendly relationship with his AP counterpart N Chandrababu Naidu.
He indirectly pointed out to the TRS chief that whether he liked it or not, Naidu was his neighbor and therefore, he had no option but to have friendly equation with him.
“We can choose our friends, but not neighbours. We have to live with neighbours, whether we like them or not. One should realize that the state of Telangana has come to existence now, therefore maintaining peace and tranquility can be helpful in achieving the goal of development,” he said.
He reminded that Hyderabad was not just a capital of Telangana, but was home to people from all parts of the country. “Hyderabad is more than just a capital city.
It is a hub of IT and industrial development. People from various parts of the country live here,” he pointed out, in an indirect reference to the controversy over the status of Hyderabad.
