Five states object to special status to Telangana and Andhra Pradesh

Hyderabad: Though Union ministers are routinely giving assurances on giving special status to Telangana and Andhra Pradesh, so far there have been no specific orders on the matter, sources said.

According to sources, the Prime Minister has received letters from the Chief Ministers of Tamil Nadu, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, Odisha and West Bengal objecting to the Centre granting any favours to the two Telugu-speaking states.

In the last six months, representatives of the AP government, including the Chief Minister, have approached the Union commerce ministry for the special status and special incentives around 16 times.

“Each time we were assured that it would be done and was being worked out; but to our knowledge, nothing has been moved in the ministry,” a source said. Apparently when ministry officials enquired with the PMO regarding this, the latter asked them “not to proceed unless specifically told”.

The Bifurcation Act, Sec. 93 and 94, specifically mentions that the Union government should take action in granting special incentives for industrial and economic development of the successor states.

Even the announcement for the new Railway Zone in the residuary state of AP has not been decided yet, though the expert committee has submitted its report in this regard.