Scribes shout at Venkaiah over budget lapse

Union Parliamentary Affairs Minister M. Venkaiah Naidu was at the receiving end at a news conference on Sunday. when media persons lambasted him on why the Central government failed to accord Special Category status to compensate for loss of revenue to Andhra Pradesh as assured by bifurcation law.

The reporters shouted at Venkaiah Naidu that BJP had resorted to opportunism out of craving for power. Naidu shot back at and said tyhat the question of Special Category status was not over as the Centre had not yet taken any decision on the matter. He signed off saying it was a mistake on his part to meet the media In Hyderabad as part of his routine exercise during week end visit to Hyderabad.

The Union Minister was at paints to explain that the BJP led NDA government inherited a precarious economic situation and it was trying to put the economy back on rails. The “kitty” did not permit the government to give liberal financial assistance to all States but still distributing what ever money it could in the true spirit of federal structure.

Venkaiah the had a telephonic talk with the Chief Minister on Saturday evening and advised Chandrababu Naidu not to air his grievance publicly when he had expressed disappointment that the State was neither granted special category status nor funds. On the other hand, the Chief Minister was asked to interact with finance minister on the expectations of the state and also thrash out differences after Jaitley returned from his foreign tour three days later.

In the same breath Naidu also advised Telangana Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao to take up his grouse on funding for the Integrated Child Development Scheme funds. he also r admitted that the Rs.100 crore allotted for Polavaram project in the budget was meager but blamed the state for not submitting a detailed project report to the Center.The project was pending since its foundation stone laying ceremony when he was an MLA in 1978.“Who was to blame for it? Was it not the Congress governments in the intervening period?” he asked.