The Special Category Status (SCS), which has been a veritable apple of discord among the TDP, the BJP and the YSR Congress Party (YSRCP), remains a hot topic in the 2019 elections .
The TDP and the YSRCP made clear their intention to fight for it in their manifestos, while the BJP defended its offer of Special Assistance Measure (SAM) in lieu of the SCS.
One constant refrain of the TDP and the YSRCP has been that by not incorporating the SCS in the A.P. Reorganisation Act, 2014 (APRA), the BJP limited the scope for any legal recourse.
The Status figured prominently in the TDP manifesto wherein Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu said his ‘Dharma Poratam’ for securing it and six assurances given in the Rajya Sabha under the APRA would continue with the support of the national and the regional parties.
He said it would be the TDP’s foremost priority.
The TDP had initially welcomed the SAM promised by the BJP-led government and even passed a resolution extolling it in the Assembly but reversed its stand saying the Central government was never serious about it.
On its part, the BJP claimed in its manifesto that the SCS was removed for all States as per the 14th Finance Commission (FC)’s recommendation. The FC had distanced itself from the controversy by saying its Terms of Reference did not require it to make a distinction between the SCS and the non-SCS States.
The BJP argued that the Centre had proposed to give the SAM on the same scale as the SCS and the State government had agreed but took a U-turn for political reasons, due to which the package could not be implemented and development was curtailed.