AP special to BJP

Vijayawada: Did the Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu seek implementation of only AP State Reorganisation Act in letter and spirit? It appears so if one goes by what the BJP national secretary, in-charge of Andhra Pradesh Siddharth Nath Singh told media here on Friday.

Centre implementing AP Act, heeding Babu’s request: Siddharth Nath Singh

Singh after the party core committee meeting, fired a salvo against the AP Chief Minister. Quoting a statement of Naidu he said that the Center should honour the AP State Reorganisation Act in letter and spirit.

The BJP leader said that the Modi government was implementing the Act ‘as asked by Chandrababu Naiduji, who is the highly respected leader of the alliance partners.’ He further said that the Central government was also doing more than what is there in the Act by extending additional financial support.

He said Act has clearly mentioned about what the state should get and no difference is made between special category and non special category benefits.

He said, the BJP is aware that it is an emotive issue and the Centre was examining as to how to compensate the residual state without using the word special status.

It will extend special help in terms of investment infrastructure and by taking care of the revenue deficit. All this is part of Act and we don’t want to use the word special status but AP is ‘special state’ for us, he added.

Quoting the reply of the Union Minister of State for Finance Jayant Sinha in Parliament on special category status, Singh alleged that some forces were spreading false information about the Modi government’s initiatives to help AP.

He said Jayant Sinha himself would visit the AP capital in June and give clarifications on the promises made, the promises fulfilled and the provisions of the Act that were implemented.

Referring to the financial support given to the state, the BJP leader said that the Centre had extended financial support of Rs 1.42 lakh crore, besides promising Rs 22,112 crore revenue deficit for four years, Rs 2,06,911 crore tax revenue against Rs 1,70,686 as per the recommendations of the 14th Finance Commission.

He also said that the government was committed to extend 100 per cent financial support to the state government to complete the Polavaram Project as national project. Steps were already initiated to extend the financial support to the state as Polavaram Project is part of the Act, he asserted.

Asked why the BJP leadership is speaking about the promises being part of the Act when they have delegated seven Mandals from Telangana to AP, which was not there in the Act, the BJP leader said that Polavaram Project was part of the Act and the delegation of the Mandals was necessary to fulfill this constitutional obligation.

However, he said that the Congress did not include the special category status in the Act making it difficult for the government to implement the same.

Asked why the BJP, which had also promised special category status to the state both inside the Parliament and also during the election campaign was going back, the BJP leader said converting the promise into a reality had become difficult task due to constitutional compulsions.

“We (BJP) are facing problems in Rajya Sabha due to the numbers. If the Congress is serious (on special category status), it could have introduced an amendment to the (AP Reorganisation) Act,” Siddharth Nath Singh said.

When his attention was drawn to the private member bill introduced by K V P Ramachandra Rao of the Congress and the government adjourning Parliament without taking up the bill, the BJP leader said that the government did not want to set the precedence of allowing the private member bill getting through.

He wanted the Congress leaders, who are spreading false information about BJP government, to come up with an amendment on behalf of the party.

However, he said that the Modi government was committed to extend greater benefits to the state as ‘Andhra Pradesh is special state for the BJP and the Modi government.’