Special Category Status fight will continue, asserts Chandrababu Naidu

Amaravati: Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu on Monday reiterated his demand for providing Special Category Status (SCS) to Andhra Pradesh stating that it is the right of the people of the State. He said that the Union government had created separate Telangana State citing sentiment as main reason and the same should be applied to the people of Andhra Pradesh.

Speaking on the motion of thanks to the Governor’s address in AP Legislative Council, the Chief Minister said the BJP being a national party should respect the assurances given by the Union government to the people of Andhra Pradesh. He also narrated how AP lost the capital and resources due to bifurcation of the State and strongly demanded Special Status to ensure justice to AP.

Chandrababu Naidu said the Union government should not hurt the sentiments of the Andhra Pradesh people and added that it is not good for the BJP as well as to the nation. He suggested to all members of the House to fight for the Special Category Status (SCS). “We are part of the NDA government and hope the Central government would respect the sentiments of the people of Andhra Pradesh and would accord SCS,” he added. N Md Farooq chaired the council proceedings.

The Chief Ministers said the BJP members should explain to their party leadership about the sentiments of the people of the State. He said the TDP has no high command and five crore Telugu people are their high command. “I will not compromise on the SCS and would continue my fight,” Naidu asserted.

Chandrababu Naidu said earlier the Congress party had committed a big mistake and now the BJP is doing the same. He recalled that Prime Minister Narendra Modi speaking on State bifurcation during his visit to Tirupati alleged that the Congress had killed the mother to save the child.

Chandrababu Naidu asked the Prime Minister Modi to save the mother now by granting the Special Category Status which was promised by Arun Jaitley and other BJP leaders at the time of State bifurcation.

Naidu made an emotional speech in the Legislative council saying that he had strived hard for the development of Hyderabad city and to transform it to a world class knowledge hub.

He said the Union government had spent thousands of crores in the cities of Hyderabad, Chennai and Bengaluru for setting up research institutes and industries and underlined the need for the development of Amaravati also as a world-class capital.

‘We have suffered huge loss due to the bifurcation of the State and now we are asking for the Special category Status and what is wrong in demanding the Union government,’ questioned the CM.

He lamented over the BJP leaders in the State resorting to counter attack against the TDP on the SCS issue. He reminded that both Congress and BJP jointly divided the State by passing bill in the Parliament and the BJP now has the responsibility to develop the State by allocating funds and fulfilling the assurances made in AP Reorganisation Act.

He said the South Indians are paying more taxes and the Central government is spending more for the development of North Indian states. He said the combined Andhra Pradesh achieved good progress because of his vision and the policies which he implemented as the Chief Minister of erstwhile Andhra Pradesh.

Referring to the development of the State, Naidu said the State government is planning to create 20 lakh jobs by the end of 2019. He predicted the State would get an investment of Rs 10 lakh crore in the near future.

The Chief Minister alleged that the Central government was releasing meagre grants to the Central government institutions and failing to fill the revenue deficit gap as per the assurance given in the Reorganisation Act.

He once again demanded that the Central government should honour the assurances and release grants to the educational institutions as well as for the development of capital and for road connectivity between the capital region and Rayalaseema districts.