The two Chief Ministers, Mr K Chandrasekhar Rao (TRS) of Telengana and Mr Chandrababu Naidu (TDP) of AP have battled over months on every issue from students' education to transfer of services and institutions and over power projects.

The Modi Government looks on silently as both states keep pressing for Central intervention plus massive funding needed to bridge their budget deficits and also fund their ambitious building plans for future. Land values in anticipation are rising all over the two states and to astronomical levels in the proposed AP capital region.

At glowing Hyderabad, the prized possession for Telengana, but for 10 years having agonisingly to share with the rest of AP, the Governor of the two states Mr E S L Narasimhan is hard pressed in efforts so far to bring in some harmony between the two Telugu chief ministers and persuade them to mutually settle their disputes amicably.

There are still pending gut issues in regard to relative shares in assets and liabilities, services and institutions. A couple of meetings at the Union Home Ministry level to sort them out also failed to produce results. Governance has suffered especially in Telengana, as it is not sufficiently manned by Services at senior levels.

The state is gripped by severe power shortage, hitting farmers badly in some districts, and Mr Rao has ruled out any relief for three years till new projects get commissioned. Meanwhile, suicides by indebted farmers in drought hit parts of Telengana keep soaring while its rebel-turned Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao, ensconced comfortably in capital, is more obsessed with announcing one welfare scheme after the other for his 'Golden Telengana' and fighting Mr Naidu.

Failing to meet his election promises, including debt-waiver of farmers, now being narrowed to reduce fiscal burden, and land for landless Dalits, Mr Rao relentlessly fires broadsides against the more seasoned AP Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu, blaming him for all his state's current woes, especially denying Telengana's share of power and water. He sees a 'conspiracy' in the way the TDP Chief Minister tries to 'derail' his state's progress.

Mr Rao, whose TRS commands a comfortable majority in the Assembly, has, however, been roundly condemned by the TDP and Congress opposition for his six months of 'misgovernance' and 'broken promises'. The opposition attack is also centred on continuing farmer suicides, reported to be around 400 by now, though figures are officially discounted.

Mr Rao has claimed that the first budget of the new state, presented as late as November end, is a historic step toward 'Bangaru Telengana' (golden era). With a shrunken fiscal base at present, the Rs. 100,000 crore budget is touted for its focus on both agriculture and manufacturing on the one hand and education and social welfare, on the other. It leaves a gap of Rs. 17,000 crores.

Mr Rao has also announced a new industrial policy, 'the world's best' according to him, offering a single-window clearance with assured power and water services and also provides for industrial corridors linking Hyderabad with other cities within and Nagpur. Most of the ambitious development plans of the two new power lords estimated to cost thousands of crores. The Chief Manager has also planned a Pharma City and Film City and thus to raise the brand image of Hyderabad.

For Mr Naidu, who returned to power after a decade and a half of Congress rule, the major challenge is to 'rebuild AP' (the truncated Seemandhra - coastal region and Rayalaseema - the 'victim' of UPA's perpetration) and faces a mighty challenge in acquiring large swathes of irrigated land to build a new capital.

Mr Naidu, whose TDP had a last minute pre-poll tie up with BJP, runs a coalition and is more confident of the BJP-led NDA in New Delhi fulfilling the promises held out to AP of a 'special package' by UPA while getting the AP Reoganisation Bill 2014 enacted by Parliament. Mr Modi has not yet reaffirmed this commitment, and Mr Rao has joined demanding similar treatment for Telengana..

But for Mr Naidu, the tasks ahead are enormous, and having decided on locating a riverside capital in the Vijayawada-Guntur region, estimated to cost Rs. one lakh crore, he has recently concluded visits to Singapore and Japan and talked to official and private agencies to undertake the master plan and capital construction respectively. He has communicated the estimated cost to the Centre which is committed to share capital building expenditure.

But Mr Naidu has run into hostility with large sections of farmers unwilling to give up land for any amount of compensation or agree to 'land-pooling' (with share in benefits after development). Mr Naidu has created a super body, Capital Region Development Authority, for undertaking all development and service-related activity in the expansive capital region spread over approximately 30,000 acres. Legislation is being enacted to enable CRDA to levy taxes and make its own budget.

First, Mr Naidu has to ensure that land can be acquired on acceptable terms for both sides. The land issue has also become handy for Mr Jagan Mohan Reddy's YSRC, a major opposition to TDP, to threaten agitation and even Mr Naidu's BJP ally is wary and sounds pro-farmer, all for future electoral gains.

Post-bifurcation, the two states are already seen as 'prize catches' for BJP in 2019, in its bid for majority in every state. BJP chief Mr Amit Shah has unveiled plans to displace Mr Rao's Telengana Rashtra Samiti (TRS) in the next election while also to strengthen the party in Seemandhra itself to be in command in 2019.

Understandably, the Telugu Desam Party of Mr Naidu, to protect its turf, has launched an intense membership drive with incentives for new members. The two states have also been competing fiercely with incentives to get investors set up new plants in Hyderabad and in resource-based parts of Telengana and in the richer coastal region and Rayalaseema areas of AP.

With a greater claim to credibility for his guiding the development of Hyderabad's high-tech city in the 1990s, Mr Naidu has already attracted a Hero MotorsCorp project in Chittoor district and a Kribhco fertiliser plant in Nellore district. More Japanese firms have been signed up during Mr Naidu's visit to Tokyo. His state is poised to provide 24 x 7 power (Power for All).

His government was also able to restore normal life and communications in good time in the port city and naval base, Visakhapatnam, after its devastation in the cyclonic storm 'hudhud' in October. The World Bank and ADB teams are visiting the state to discuss assistance they could provide in re-development of the coastal region.

Last but not the least, the Rao-Nadu rivalry is also extending to reach out to President Obama during his Republic Day visit to get US firms in their states. Mr Naidu hopes to get a US Consulate in Vijayawada. (IPA Service)