Naidu flayed for not exerting pressure on PM

Vijayawada: YSRCP Krishna district president and senior party leader Kolusu Parthasarathy lashed out at Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu for his failure to exert pressure on Prime Minister Narendra Modi to grant Special Category Status (SCS) to Andhra Pradesh during the last four years.

Parthasarathy said Chandrababu Naidu was claiming that the NDA government had done gross injustice to the State during the last four years and so the TDP severed ties with the NDA. Addressing the media at the State party office here on Saturday, the YSRCP leader questioned the Chief Minister if he had ever discussed in the State Cabinet on the loss incurred by the State due to the denial of the Special Status. 

He said the Chief Minister had spent many hours discussing on the sand policy, red sanders smuggling and illegal transporting of earth in the state and other subjects but he had never discussed either in the Cabinet meeting or with the higher officials of the State about the loss suffered by AP State due to lack of Special Category Status. He questioned as to why Chandrababu Naidu had praised Union Finance Minister Arun Jailtley when the Union government refused to grant SCS and offered the Special Package. 

He said the TDP had earlier said that the Union government did not provide Special Status to any State since 2014. But the Centre had extended the Status for another 10 years to 11 States which were already enjoying the Status, Parthasarathy pointed out. Parthasarathy wondered whether the Chief Minister had ever discussed with the officials about the 14th Finance Commission’s suggestions on the SCS.