‘Political parties in race to gain mileage’

Vijayawada: MLC V Balasubramanyam said that the political parties in the State are trying to get mileage out of the fight for Special Category Status rather than thinking on how the State suffered loss due to not granting Special Category status to the State.

The MLCs belonging to the ruling Telugu Desam party, BJP and PDF spoke on Wednesday on the motion of thanks to the Governor’s address. Chairman Md Farooq chaired the council proceedings.  

Narrating the loss suffered by the State due to bifurcation, Balasubramanyam said AP had reached the bottom stage among the South Indian states in the per capita income. 

He regretted that the political parties were trying to get political mileage out of the Special Category Status issue. He pointed out that both political parties and civil society organisations failed in the fight for the SCS.

Referring to fish cultivation and declining paddy cultivation in the State, he said Andhra Pradesh was once upon a time ‘Rice Bowl of India’ and now it is gradually turning into ‘Fish Bowl of India.’ He expressed concern over growing fish cultivation saying that many areas will be deprived of drinking water in future.

He also expressed apprehensions over the increasing attacks on Dalits in the State. Another member of the Legislative Council Katti Narasimha Reddy alleged that the Central government was neglecting the development of State. 

He said though Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu went to Delhi 29 times to meet the Union Ministers there was no response. He said people were losing trust on the political parties and the government because the assurances made in the Parliament were not being honoured. He stressed the need for setting up a price stabilization fund with Rs 5,000 crore to help the farmers.