Congress practices 'opportunism' on Andhra's special status: Centre

New Delhi: Union Minister M Venkaiah Naidu on Friday hit out at Congress over the issue of special status for Andhra Pradesh and accused it of practising "double standards and opportunism", citing party leader Veerappa Moily's speech in the Lok Sabha opposing such a status.

Naidu attacked Congress after it targeted the government in the Rajya Sabha with former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh asking the House to fulfil the commitments made by him in this regard over two years ago as it took up a private member bill on the issue.

Read: Special status to AP must be delivered, Chandrababu Naidu tells Modi

Moily, Naidu said, had said in the Lower House on March 16, 2015 that providing incentives to one state will lead to flight of capital in neighboring states like Kerala and Andhra Pradesh.

"This is nothing but double standards and opportunism of Congress party. These are its old habits," he told reporters.

The Union Minister said no government has done as much for Andhra Pradesh as the Modi government has and citied a number of central projects including setting up of IIT, IIM besides various other infrastructural initiatives.

The Information & Broadcasting Minister's remarks came on a day Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu met Prime Minister Narendra Modi and several Union ministers seeking special status for the state besides other benefits.

Sources said Naidu told the Prime Minister that a special status was assured to Andhra Pradesh after its bifurcation by his predecessor Manmohan Singh and also by the TDP and the BJP during the polls and the promise must be delivered.

The Chief Minister is also believed to have said that since several political parties supported the Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Bill, the chances of their resistance to special status to the state is likely to be little.