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Special status: Cong, YSRCP up in arms
Union Minister of State for Statistics and Programme Implementation Rao Inderjit Singh’s statement in the Lok Sabha on Friday that no state would be given special status has caused quite a political hullabaloo in Andhra Pradesh. The Congress, which had promised special status to Andhra Pradesh in the Rajya Sabha while passing the AP State Reorganisation Bill in 2014, has decided to take on the government on this issue.
Hyderabad: Union Minister of State for Statistics and Programme Implementation Rao Inderjit Singh’s statement in the Lok Sabha on Friday that no state would be given special status has caused quite a political hullabaloo in Andhra Pradesh. The Congress, which had promised special status to Andhra Pradesh in the Rajya Sabha while passing the AP State Reorganisation Bill in 2014, has decided to take on the government on this issue.
AICC vice-president Rahul Gandhi on Saturday telephoned APCC president N Raghuveera Reddy and told him to gear up the party to launch a series of agitations for the special status as per the action plan that would be sent to them by the party high command soon. Rahul told the APCC president that special status to AP was the right of the people of the state and the stand taken by the NDA government in this regard was not acceptable.
He directed Raghuveera Reddy to hold a meeting with party rank and file over the issue. Senior Congress leader S Sailajanath said that APCC is likely to move the High Court on the special status issue. Rahul also convened a meeting of party MPs from the Rajya Sabha on Monday to discuss the issue and chalk out an action plan to take on the NDA government when it would make similar statement on the floor of the House.
On the other hand, YSRCP leader Botcha Satyanarayana said if the TDP continues to adopt a soft attitude towards the Centre and does not fight for the special status, people would teach it a befitting lesson. He said the YSRCP would launch a relentless fight till the Centre agrees to accord special status to AP. Lashing out at TDP ministers in the Union Cabinet, Botcha said it was shocking to see that the TDP ministers were silent when the Union Minister made the statement that special status cannot be given to the state. The interest of the state should not be hypothecated for narrow political gains, he added.
Botcha said two special trains would leave for New Delhi on August 7 from Anakapalle and Tirupati covering all the districts to ferry party leaders and cadre to participate in the dharna and the March to Parliament on August 10. Meanwhile, Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu, addressing a meeting of Telugu Desam Party (TDP) in Vijayawada, said the TDP would continue its struggle till the Central government accords special status to the state.
