Honour commitments to AP: Elders to govt

New Delhi: Cutting across party lines, members of the Upper House on Thursday strongly advised the Government to honour its commitment made to Andhra Pradesh during the bifurcation in 2014. "The word given by the Prime Minister then and the promises made in the House are sacred and cannot be dumped now" was the unanimous message of the parties.

Though Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley would give his reply on Friday, the government has indicated that special status may not be accorded. The short duration discussion which was a collateral of the Dr KVP Ramachandra Rao's Private Member Bill, saw the speakers reminding the Government that "parties in power might change.

But the word given by the Prime Minister on the floor of the House and the provisions incorporated in the AP Reorganisation Act, 2014 must be implemented come what may because governance is a continuous process."

The nearly three- and-a half hour debate was initiated by Jairam Ramesh of the Congress with several posers to the Government: What happened to the assurances that the Centre would take responsibility for completing all projects as promised in the Act?

What happened to the fiscal measures promised to the State on industrial and economic front? What is the status of the provision of Special Financial Support to the building of the new capital? What is the Status of special assistance of Rayalaseema and North Coastal Andhra Pradesh?

What is done to resolve disputes regarding inter-State river waters through River Water Management Boards? What about the Special Category Status promised for 10 years? And on Polavaram? Only two of the promises had been kept and what about the others?

Along with him, his colleagues, Ghulam Nabi Azad, Digvijay Singh, T Subbirami Reddy and Renuka Chowdary, also pointed out that BJP's Venkaiah Naidu and Arun Jaitley were present during the debate on bifurcation and promised more than what the Congress promised.

Switching to Telugu, Sitaram Yechury of the CPI (M) and Renuka Chowdary of the Congress questioned the wisdom of the Government in denouncing KVP's bill as a money bill. The matter was sub-judice as Jairam Ramesh had filed a pill in this regard, Chowdary pointed out while the former said though the party opposed the bifurcation on ideological grounds, it cautioned against the political fallout sufficiently.

TDP's C M Ramesh and G Mohan Rao, who also spoke in Telugu, thanked all parties for the support extended to AP during the discussion and praised the role played by M Venkaiah Naidu and Arun Jaitley in voicing their concerns for AP during and after bifurcation.

They said their party and its Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu were striving relentlessly for the special status and overall development of the State. "Some politicians criticise us despite our efforts and the hardwork of Chandrababu Naidu.

Digvijay Singh of the Congress added that no one should equate AP special status issue with that of the other States, as it was more due to the fiscal imbalances in AP due to bifurcation that the status was being demanded.

He wondered whether Chandrababu Naidu was afraid to question the Centre due to "other reasons or political connivance".T G Venkatesh and C M Ramesh rubbished it in the end.