The Assembly adopted a resolution unanimously urging the Centre to accord the Special Category Status (SCS) to Andhra Pradesh and fulfil all the promises and assurances made as part of the Reorganisation Act.
Leader of the House and Chief Minister Y. S. Jagan Mohan Reddy moved the resolution and it was by adopted by all the members, including those of the Opposition party. It was the third such resolution since 2014. Mr. Jagan told the House that the resolution was to “straighten the record” of the Assembly which had in the past adopted a resolution accepting special package.
Extending cooperation, the Telugu Desam Party ‘suggested’ that the ruling YSR Congress Party clinch SCS considering the fact that people gave a clear mandate to it.
Later, the treasury and Opposition benches entered into arguments over the issue. with the former blaming the previous government’s inability to get SCS even after it was approved by the Union Cabinet way before the government was formed in 2014.
Mr. Jagan said the Union Cabinet had approved SCS at its meeting on March 2, 2014, and forwarded the orders to the Planning Commission.
“Mr. Chandrababu Naidu was sworn in in June 2014, but for seven months he made no efforts to get the orders implemented. Had he acted then, the State would have got SCS by now. He moved a resolution seeking SCS only in September 2015 but by then the commission was already abolished,” Mr. Jagan said. He wondered why Mr. Naidu, who claims to have refused to take oath as CM while demanding merger of seven mandals in the State, forgot about SCS.
Rebutting the ruling party’s allegation, Mr. Naidu said they sincerely tried and fought for SCS with their ally BJP and even walked out of the NDA.
“We accepted the package in September 2016 only after the Centre promised that all benefits of SCS would be extended. Before that I had appealed to the Prime Minister, several Union Ministers, and made 29 visits to Delhi,” he added.
‘Onus on YSRCP’
“At the end we couldn’t get it. You [YSRCP] promised to achieve SCS if you win 22 MP seats, people gave you the same and it is your responsibility now to fulfil it,” Mr. Naidu said and added that no purpose would be served if the ruling party resorted to mudslinging on him.
YSRCP members Ambati Ram Babu, Buggana Rajendranath and others asked the TDP to accept failure instead of trying to cover up its failures.
Earlier, Mr. Jagan made a statement on the necessity of having unwavering commitment to achieve the demand. He said he had read out the same statement at the recent NITI Aayog meeting reminding Centre of the promises made in Parliament.