india

Updated: Jun 12, 2019 19:47 IST

In yet another instance of growing bonhomie between the two Telugu states, Telangana chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao on Wednesday decided to personally invite his Andhra Pradesh counterpart and YSR Congress party chief Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy for the June 21 inauguration of Kaleshwaram lift irrigation project built on Godavari.

An official release from the Chief Minister’s Office (CMO) said, KCR, as the Telangana Rashtra Samithi chief is popularly known as, will go to Amaravati, the capital of Andhra Pradesh, to meet & personally extend an invitation to Jagan Reddy.

The Kaleshwaram project is the biggest and costliest lift irrigation scheme in the country at an estimated cost of over Rs one lakh crore. It will utilize nearly 200 thousand million cubic feet (tmc) of Godavari river water for irrigation, drinking and industrial purposes.

The project involves construction of three barrages, reverse pumping of Godavari water into three major reservoirs and diversion of water into a huge and complex system of reservoirs, water tunnels, pipelines and canals.

The first phase of the project is going to be inaugurated on June 21.

The decision to invite Jagan appears to be the latest of several attempts to restore relations between the two Telugu states- strained during Naidu led Telugu Desam’s rule in AP.

The TRS chief had vowed to give a “return gift” to Chandrababu Naidu after the AP CM forged an alliance with the Congress to fight TRS in Telangana polls. 5 months later, Jagan Reddy trounced TDP in the Andhra assembly polls. TRS had extended moral support to Jagan’s party.

KCR has been showing keen interest in Andhra lately. He felicitated Jagan and extended him a huge welcome at his residence when he came to Hyderabad after the landslide win.

KCR not only attended Jagan’s swearing-in ceremony in Vijaywada but also readily transferred some senior Telangana officials to Andhra on his request.

In reciprocation, Jagan has agreed to hand over to Telangana ,all the Andhra government buildings in Hyderabad, without any monetary gains.

Senior journalist and political analyst Tankasala Ashok said KCR’s invitation was significant for improving the relations between the two states.

“The river Godavari flows through both the states before joining the Bay of Bengal. So, invitation to Jagan has material as well as symbolic value in the relationship between both the states for present as well as future,” he said.