Centre committed to development of Andhra Pradesh, Telangana: BJP

Vijayawada: The NDA government is committed to fulfill all promises made by the previous UPA dispensation while passing a law in Parliament which led to the bifurcation of Andhra Pradesh and creation of Telangana, Union minister M Venkaiah Naidu said on Friday.

The Centre would facilitate the development of both Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, the senior BJP leader said and asked the two states to resolve through discussion all contentious issues arising out of the bifurcation.

"The Union government is committed to fulfill all promises by the previous government on the floor of the House during passage of the Andhra Pradesh Re-organisation Act," Mr Naidu, who holds Parliamentary Affairs and Urban Development portfolios, said.

The UPA government had promised, among other things, to grant special category status to the residuary state of Andhra Pradesh, complete the Polavaram multi-purpose irrigation project and help in setting up premier education institutes.

The Act also contains various investment and other commitments made by the Centre to the truncated state.

Mr Naidu referred to schemes announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi during his maiden Independence Day speech and said people must become part of the development process.

Later, addressing party workers, he expressed happiness over the legislative work done in the just-concluded Parliament session.

Under the NDA rule, Parliament became a platform of meaningful discussions and it passed 12 bills, including the one related to appointment of High Court and Supreme Court judges, which had been pending for a long time, the minister said.

All this was possible due to the cooperation extended by Opposition parties, who were allowed to freely express their views in the House, the Parliamentary Affairs Minister said.

Mr Naidu criticised Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi for his noisy protest in the Well of the House last week over a discussion on communal violence.

He asked the Congress to become a constructive opposition party instead of blindly criticising the BJP-led government.

The BJP leader said Congress leaders were unable to digest their defeat in the Lok Sabha polls.