NITI Aayog meet: Give us our spl status, says Chandrababu Naidu

Vijayawada: Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu who attended the 4th Governing Council meeting of Niti Aayog in Delhi on Sunday reiterated the demand of according Special Category Status (SCS) to Andhra Pradesh and accused the Union government of misleading the people of India on the issue.

He ignored the agenda of the meeting and used the opportunity to raise issues concerning the state in an attempt to muster support from other states. During his 20-minute speech, which was interrupted briefly by home minister Rajnath Singh for exceeding the allotted time of seven minutes, Mr Naidu said, “The Union Government attempted to mislead by announcing Special Assistance Measure in lieu of Special Category Status citing that the 14th Finance Commission had done away with the provisions of the Special Category Status. Former PM, as a condition to passing the AP Reorganisation Bill, assured to accord Special Category Status.  The election manifesto of BJP, for AP, assured Special Category Status for 10 years. Andhra Pradesh feels resentful due to breach of promise made to its people.”