Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu said on Wednesday that the Centre should come out with a clear stand on the demands of Andhra Pradesh in the next 2-3 days beginning with implementation of the A.P. Reorganisation Act in letter and spirit.
In an emotional voice, Mr. Naidu said he was deeply pained at the Central government’s indifferent approach. In cooperative federalism, the Centre must treat all States equally. While the Special Category Status benefits were being extended to the northeastern States, Andhra Pradesh, which needed special attention, was ignored, he said.
He was replying to the debate on the motion of thanks to the Governor’s address in the Assembly.
Rahul’s promise
Mr. Naidu said he did not voice his demands loudly in the last four years, hoping that the BJP would honour the promises made in its manifesto. The BJP leadership, however, remained silent, while Congress president Rahul Gandhi had promised that the first signature would be for special category status if the Congress was voted to power. “The people will not pardon and history will not forgive me if I don’t raise my voice now,” he said.
Reminding the BJP that Prime Minister Narendra Modi, during the election campaign in 2014, had commented that the Congress had killed the mother after delivering the baby — a reference to the injustice done to A.P. due to the creation of Telangana — he wondered why the Centre was not compassionate now.
The Centre must clear the legislation for providing 5% reservation to the Kapus, besides including the Valmiki-Boya community in the Scheduled Tribes List.
Also, the State was submitting Utilisation Certificates for the Polavaram project, Mr. Naidu asserted.
