Protest against denial of Special Status to AP

Chittoor: The CPM and CPI activists staged a dharna at Head Post Office here on Thursday, demanding the BJP-led NDA government to grant Special Category Status (SCS) to Andhra Pradesh. They raised slogans against Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu. The Left leaders made it clear that special package offered by Union Ministers Arun Jaitley, Venkaiah Naidu and Sujana Chowdary was not acceptable to AP instead of SCS.

Addressing the party workers, CPI district secretary A Rama Naidu regretted that the Chief Minister has failed to protect the interests of the State by yielding to the pressures of the BJP central leaders for his political mileage.

He alleged that Chandrababu Naidu has no commitment to get SCS to AP as his political survival is vested in the hands of the NDA government. He stated that the TDP government has played a spectator role for more than two years when the entire State was aspiring for SCS.

The CPI leader said it was binding on the part of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to fulfill all the provisions of the AP Reorganisation Act along with SCS announced by former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on the floor of the Rajya Sabha. He accused Venkaiah Naidu of double standards on SCS, who himself had demanded to grant SCS for 10 years.

He stated that the Left parties would intensify the agitation in the State for exerting pressure on the Modi government for conceding to the demand of the SCS.

Rama Naidu asked the Chief Minister to instruct the TDP Ministers to quit union cabinet to prove their commitment towards AP. AITUC district president P Chaitanya, CPI city secretary Nagarajan, CPM leader Surendra and other leaders spoke on the occasion.