Andhra Pradesh won’t get special status: Telugu Desam MPs
Mr Sambasiva Rao said the mood in the Centre was not in favour of granting special status
Hyderabad: Two former Congress leaders, who are now Telugu Desam MPs, on Saturday embarrassed party president N. Chandrababu Naidu by speaking out of turn on the Centre rejecting special category status to AP.
Anantapur MP J.C. Diwakar Reddy and Narasaraopet MP Rayapati Sambasiva Rao, who were in Congress for more than 40 years and were known for their free-wheeling comments, said that as far as they knew, the Centre would not accord special status to AP. Mr Diwakar Reddy went a step ahead and said that Mr Naidu knew that the Centre would not give special status to AP and that was why he was trying to get a special package.
“For 14 months we have been representing the matter to the Centre by meeting PM Narendra Modi and Union ministers, but it was like dunnapothu pai vaana paddattu (water off a duck’s back),” Mr Diwakar Reddy said.
Mr Sambasiva Rao said the mood in the Centre was not in favour of granting special status and according to his knowledge the state would not get it even in the future.
“By not including the special category status clause in the AP Reorganisation Act, the UPA regime made a mistake, and NDA is also continuing the mistake,” he said.
He sarcastically said: “Where is Mr Modi? He is always on foreign trips and comes to India on visitor’s visa. The BJP establishment does not want AP to get developed.”
When mediapersons asked what would be the next step, Mr Sambasiva Rao shot back, “What more you want us to do? Do you want us to agitate naked?” He admitted that by not according special status, as promised by the TD and the BJP, both would suffer politically.
AP agriculture minister Prattipati Pulla Rao and Machilipatnam MP Konakalla Narayana Rao said the TD would try for special status, and a special special package if that was not possible.