N Chandrababu Naidu claims tag help, PMO silent

Hyderabad: AP Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu on Tuesday claimed that Prime Minister Narendra Modi has assured to resolve the issue pertaining to granting of Special Category Status to AP and implementation of the assurances given in the AP Reorganisation Act.

After his meeting with the PM in Delhi, Mr Naidu said he has categorically told Modi that Centre should grant special status to AP. He asked the PM to solve all issues in a time-bound manner and was assured that they would be done, Mr Naidu told journalists. However, the press release issued by the Prime Minister’s Office did not speak about this.

The press release from PMO only mentioned drought-related issues. Mr Naidu said he asked the PM and as well as Union finance minister Arun Jaitley to release funds for Polavaram, capital city construction and outstanding revenue deficit arrears to AP.

The CM said the state government has spent Rs 1,450 crore on Polavaram project and Centre has released only Rs 850 crore. He said that Polavaram project will not get completed as per the schedule unless Rs 1,000 crore is spent every year.

For the financial year 2014-15, the revenue deficit was Rs 16,200 crore but the Centre has released only Rs 2,800 crore.

Mr Naidu said he told the PM to keep the promise on granting special status to AP. During a discussion on state’s bifurcation in Parliament, BJP had said that special status to AP should be not for five years but for 10 years, Mr Naidu pointed out.