Andhra gets first advocate general from Telangana

In an apparent step to assuage pro-Telangana protestors, a lawyer from the backward region — A Sudarshan Reddy of Mahabubnagar — has been appointed Andhra Pradesh’s (AP’s) advocate general (AG).

This is the first time since its creation in 1956 that Andhra has got a Telangana lawyer as its AG.

All previous AGs were from Andhra or Rayalaseema and pro-Telangana protestors had been repeatedly raising the issue.

Reddy, a friend of chief minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy, will be assisted by additional AGs Satya Prasad and P Haranath Gupta.

“Reddy is a non-controversial lawyer. His association with the chief minister at Nizam College in Hyderabad must have led to the decision,” a senior AP high court advocate said.

But, Telangana groups were not ready to take the appointment seriously. “If the government thinks it would be able to pacify us by giving one or two posts, it would be a mistake. We want nothing less than a state,” senior Telangana Rashtra Samiti MLA Harish Rao said.

Meanwhile, pro-Telangana protestors blocked all roads, including highways, on Monday. There was no traffic movement on national highway (NH) 9.