The BJP on Friday said the claim that the Centre was not helping Andhra Pradesh was “deliberate distortion of facts,” and asserted that the Narendra Modi Government had gone beyond its means to help the State after its bifurcation.
As Andhra Pradesh’s ruling TDP, a BJP ally, and various opposition parties mounted pressure on the Centre seeking more funds for the State, BJP spokesperson G.V.L. Narasimha Rao said, “Please do not continue with this propaganda that the Centre is not helping the State. The Centre has gone way beyond its means to help the State.”
He said that over the past few weeks, many statements had been made by various people about the implementation of the Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Act, 2014.
“These statements seem to be deliberate distortion of facts as far as the support of the Government of India is concerned,” he told reporters at the party office here.
“The current government has done more than whatever has been promised in the Act in a short span of time,” Mr. Rao said.
‘Time to clear the air’
Explaining in detail the various initiatives and projects taken up by the Narendra Modi-led government for the State, the BJP leader said, “It is time to place the facts before the people. It is time to clear the air.”
Listing various developmental works initiated by the NDA Government, Mr. Rao said 11 institutions and one super-speciality hospital would have to be established in the State by 2022.
Out of them, nine had already become functional, he added.
The three airports in Visakhapatnam, Vijayawada, and Tirupati had been expanded to international standards and made operational, he said.
Mr. Rao, accompanied by State BJP president K. Haribabu, shared a 17-page note with the media listing the initiatives taken by the Centre for the development of Andhra Pradesh.
Cracks in alliance
Days before the presentation of the Union Budget for 2018-19, cracks had appeared in the alliance between the BJP and the TDP after Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu said his party was ready to chart its own course if the former was not keen on continuing the alliance.
Mr. Naidu has been demanding special package and more allocation of funds to the State. On the other hand, the BJP has been maintaining that all necessary allocations have been made to the State.
