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AP Special Status issue rekindles Congress
The Special Status issue gained momentum with the Andhra Pradesh Congress Committee (APCC) leading a delegation to New Delhi and the Congress party taking up the issue in both the Houses of Parliament.Though the Centre has evaded a reply on granting Special Status to the state, it had to come out with the list of measures it had taken to help the truncated state of Andhra Pradesh.
New Delhi: The Special Status issue gained momentum with the Andhra Pradesh Congress Committee (APCC) leading a delegation to New Delhi and the Congress party taking up the issue in both the Houses of Parliament.Though the Centre has evaded a reply on granting Special Status to the state, it had to come out with the list of measures it had taken to help the truncated state of Andhra Pradesh.
This also forced the AP government to move a resolution in both the Houses demanding speedy implementation of all the promises made in the AP State Reorganisation Act and grant of Special Status. Meanwhile, the AICC high command threw its weight behind the APCC in its struggle for securing Special Status to Andhra Pradesh. The high command at a meeting held in the AICC headquarters in New Delhi lashed out at the NDA for its reluctance in according the status as sought by its own leaders in the House in the past.
Addressing the 300-strong delegation of APCC which is here for the last two days to highlight the injustice done to Andhra Pradesh, AICC president Sonia Gandhi said it was shameful that the NDA leadership was refusing to give the status to AP. The same leaders who were in the opposition in 2014 had demanded Special Status for a 10-year period, she reminded.
Assuring the people of AP that the Congress would not rest till the status was conferred on AP to their benefit, Sonia Gandhi said the Congress would continue to step up pressure on the Centre henceforth. Special Status was the right of AP and its people, she said adding that without which the State would suffer.
AICC vice-president Rahul Gandhi heaped praise on the APCC for organising the protest despite heavy odds. Though the party was out of power and was facing difficulties, the commitment of the leaders and cadres was laudable. The very idea and ideals that represented the party - standing by the people come what may – were being kept alive by the APCC leadership and it should be role model for the Congress leaders in other States too, he said.
Though the party was down in the dumps in AP, every Congressman should remember that the tide would turn in its favour soon just as it did in case of Punjab where it was out of power through the 80s but by 90s it came back to power.Former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh recalled that the Congress had promised to give the Special Status for five years but it was the BJP leadership then which demanded 10 years of such a status.
The party would remain committed for ever for the development of AP and would continue fighting for the Special Status, he said. Later, the delegation members returned from the AICC to the Andhra Pradesh Bhavan and staged a dharna raising slogans in this regard in its premises for about two hours.
They also burnt an effigy of the Centre in front of the Bhavan and attempted to proceed to Parliament. All of them were detained by the police and taken to the Parliament Street police station. They were later let of on personal bonds.In the evening, the delegation led by APCC president N Raghuveera Reddy and RS member K V P Ramachandra Rao met Vice-President Hamid Ansari and presented a memorandum. The APCC leadership handed over the "one crore" signatures collected in support of the demand to the AICC leadership earlier in the day.
