Grant tag unquestioningly: Telugu Desam

Visakhapatnam: Panchayat raj minister Ch. Ayyanapatrudu has asked the BJP government not to look at the pros and cons of giving ‘Special Category Status’ to Andhra Pradesh, but to grant it immediately as this was what every resident of Andhra Pradesh desired, it was their right.

At the mini Mahanadu held on Sunday, he reiterated that the BJP-led centre had no other choice but to accord Special Category Status to the state. He pointed out in a reminder that Prime Minister Narendra Modi had, during the 2014 polls, promised this to AP if he were voted to power.

Objecting to BJP senior leader Somu Veerraju’s comments questioning AP’s need for '1 lakh crore, Mr Naidu asked, in turn, the Andhra Pradesh government could build a capital city better than Delhi without such a sum of money.

Pendurthy MLA and former minister Bandaru Satyanarayana Murthy’s concern was to do with the undue influence that leaders who had recently joined the BJP from the Congress may have. “They are coverts of Sonia Gandhi and Jagan Mohan Reddy and are trying to disturb the alliance in the state. That old-generation BJP leaders, belonging to Vajpayee’s and Advani’s time, are not criticising TD, but the newly inducted leaders are doing so which is not good for the alliance. We have trusted the BJP and it should help the overall development of the state. In 2019 too the same alliance should continue the winning streak,” said Mr Murthy, who said that he had asked the BJP central leadership to rein in such leaders.