New Delhi: Home minister Rajnath Singh on Thursday appointed a senior official as the nodal officer for coordinating with the Andhra Pradesh and Telangana state governments for speedy implementation of the promises made during the bifurcation.

The appointment of a nodal officer to coordinate with the state governments and Union ministries concerned comes close on the heels of criticism from within the NDA that the BJP government was not doing enough to take care of AP and Telangana states.

The home minister made the announcement of A.K. Singh’s appointment during a meeting with Parliamentary affairs minister M. Venkaiah Naidu and top BJP leaders from AP headed by state unit president K. Haribabu.

An official statement from Mr Venkaiah Naidu’s office said a team, led by Mr A.K. Singh, will visit Hyderabad on March 20 and hold discussions with the chief secretaries of both states. “Additionally, Mr Rajnath Singh agreed with Mr Venkaiah Naidu’s suggestion that in certain cases, pending issues can be resolved by using removal of difficulty orders in the Act and he has directed his officers to expedite the matter,” said the statement. The home minister gave an assurance that he will do the needful to speed up the implementation of the Act.