Dissatisfied with the assurances made by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, the NDA ally, Telugu Desam Party (TDP), continued protests both in and outside Parliament on Tuesday. Congress president Rahul Gandhi joined the protest on the lawns of Parliament.
On Monday, Union Minister Y.S. Chowdary, along with TDP MP K. Rammohan Naidu, Andhra Pradesh Finance Minister Yanamala Ramakrishnudu and Principal Secretary to the Chief Minister G. Sai Prasad, met Mr. Jaitley and other senior officials at the Finance Ministry.
BJP president Amit Shah was also supposed to be present at the meeting, scheduled for 4 p.m.
But as the Andhra Pradesh delegation was delayed and reached North Block at 6.30 p.m., Mr. Shah had already left for Guwahati.
According to TDP leaders, while Mr, Jaitley said he would announce the special package and other concessions by April 6, no details of the announcement were shared. The Minister said funds and clearances would be given for a steel plant at Kadappa and a petrochemical corridor at Kakinada, and reorganisation of the railway would take place soon. Again no time line was given.
‘People are restless’
“We have heard the words, ‘examining,’ ‘studying,’ ‘looking into’ far too long now. We expected the Finance Minister to make concrete announcements, which he didn’t. People of the State are restless. By protesting in Parliament, we are just conveying their sentiments in a democratic manner,” Lok Sabha member P. Ravindra Babu told The Hindu.
According to sources, at a morning teleconference with Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu, many MPs suggested that TDP pull out of government, but Mr. Naidu suggested a “wait-and-watch” strategy.
The TDP MPs set little store by the national party’s support. “Had the Congress, at the time of dividing the State, allocated funds and projects in writing rather than making oral assurances, we would not have been in this state. Both the BJP and the Congress got together to split the State, leaving us at a disadvantage ,” TDP MP Kesineni Srinivas said.
