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Venkaiah non committal on special status
Highlights
Faced with all-round criticism that the NDA government is hoodwinking the State on granting special category status and is ignoring its interests, Union Minister for Rural Development M Venkaiah Naidu said that soon the Centre would come out with a detailed list of allocations it had made to Andhra Pradesh in the last 15 months.
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Eluru: Faced with all-round criticism that the NDA government is hoodwinking the State on granting special category status and is ignoring its interests, Union Minister for Rural Development M Venkaiah Naidu said that soon the Centre would come out with a detailed list of allocations it had made to Andhra Pradesh in the last 15 months.
But at the same time, he was non-committal on the issue of special status to the state. Speaking at the foundation stone laying ceremony of NIT at Tadepalligudem, Venkaiah was furious over the manner in which some people were raising slogans demanding special status and turned his address into more of a political attack against the Congress.
Lashing out at the Congress, he said that the party had no moral right to criticise the NDA government and raise slogans now as it was they who had divided the State in a most unscientific and inhuman manner by closing the gates of Lok Sabha, muzzling the voice of their own MPs.
Noticing that great injustice was being done to AP, it was he who stood up in Rajya Sabha and fought for justice to the State as a Telugu soldier and not for votes or seats. He also said AP would definitely get a railway zone. The NDA, he said, was committed to ensure that full justice was done to the truncated State and had already fulfilled certain promises.
He said the problem with Congress party was that “they do not remember yesterday.... tomorrow is uncertain to them” and the party had become directionless. Venkaiah said it was just 15 months since they came to power and if every promise could be fulfilled in such short time what were the Congress governments doing for the past 50 years. Why is it that still politics of poverty continues in this country, he asked.
He said the Congress leaders had stated that they would not allow Venkaiah to move in the state. “The Congress should know that whenever Venkaiah comes to the State he comes with something for the State.” He said the Congress should decide whether they want me to continue to come or not.
He, however, did not make any categorical statement on special status to the State. He said that as many States were demanding special status, the Centre would take a decision after considering all aspects.Referring to the criticism of Congress leaders that Narendra Modi was a touring Prime Minister, Venkaiah said that Modi had proved that he was a rock star.
His foreign visits helped in changing the direction of the country from “politics of poverty to politics of development.” He said the economy was now back on track and that the GDP had grown from 4.6 to 7.3 per cent. He said it was unfortunate that even leaders who had changed parties like shirts for narrow political gains frequently were criticising him.
“I never changed party... they changed their agendas and jendas (flags).... they changed parties like changing a shirt. I have risen from the position of a flag bearer to national president of the party and I will die as a member in this party,” he said.
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