Left criticises BJP on special status

Vijayawada: The Left parties in Andhra Pradesh came down heavily on the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJ) leadership for not giving special
category status to the State as promised at the time of bifurcation.

The CPI had even planned for protest in Ananthapur for two days from May 8 seeking special category status. The CPI State secretary K
Ramakrishna took strong exception to the Union Ministers statements in Parliament denying the possibility of according special category
status to the State. He said the Center’s attitude was betrayal of the people by the BJP leadership which had promised to give 10 years of
special category status to the State. He recalled the statements of the BJP leaders in Rajya Sabha and also during the 2014 election
campaign and wanted to know why the party had gone back on the promise.

Meanwhile, the CPI-M State secretary P Madhu, condemned the betrayal of the people by the BJP leadership. He said that the BJP and the
TDP have promised special category status to the State, besides other promises during the last elections. He said that people of Andhra
Pradesh would teach a fitting lesson to the BJP if the party failed to fulfill its promise.

He also asked the TDP leadership to prove its commitment to the State and fight for the special category status and other promises which
are due for the State.