Fulfil UPA govt vows to Andhra Pradesh, Sonia Gandhi tells Narendra Modi

New Delhi: Congress president Sonia Gandhi has asked Prime Minister Narendra Modi to ensure that his government “takes forward” the promises made by the previous UPA government with regard to the residuary state of Andhra Pradesh, especially granting of special category status and implementation of the Polavaram irrigation project.

In a letter written to Mr Modi on Monday, Mrs Gandhi reminded him of the commitments made by then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and the government on the floor of the Rajya Sabha with regard to the bifurcation of Andhra Pradesh.

The issues raised by Mrs Gandhi are according special category status to the Seemandhra state, tax incentives and concessions to industries in the new state, implementation of the Polavaram multipurpose project and special financial package for eight backward districts of the state.

“The groundwork for many of them, like in the area of water resources, grant of special category status and facilitating the Polavaram project had already been laid by the erstwhile UPA government. I do hope that your administration will build on what we had accomplished and take them forward,” Mrs Gandhi said in the letter.