Hyderabad: Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister, N. Chandrababu Naidu, warned the Centre of a people’s revolt if it goes back on its commitment.
“People have taught a lesson to the Congress for its failure to address their concerns. Congress was buried politically. BJP, which has taken upon itself to implement the commitments that were given on the floor of Parliament, will have to restore confidence among people of the state. If it does not do so, people will take to the streets,” he cautioned the Centre during the course of his interaction with party MLAs.
Earlier, opposition leader Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy challenged the TD to walk out of the Union cabinet due to the latter’s non-cooperation in awarding special status to AP.
“All the ministers have been blaming the Centre on meagre allocations in the budget and the 14th Finance Commission. If they are that serious, can they snap ties? Can TD ask the BJP minister to leave the cabinet?” he asked.
Mr Reddy has in fact turned the tables on the TDP members who are alleging that he has been maintaining a conspicuous silence over the Centre’s attitude. “My PAC member Somayajulu was the first to react to the Centre’s attitude. Don’t expect that the party president will react to each and everything. How many times did the CM react on vital issues?” he asked.
The CM, who was not inside the House at the time of Mr Reddy’s challenge, later reacted at the TDLP meeting saying that it is impossible to end the bond with the Centre at this juncture. “It is a fact that the Centre has not lived up to its word so far. But we should not get demoralized. We have to fight it out and get our share. I advise you (TDP MLAs) to observe restraint in your remarks against the Centre because a fight does not mean verbal war or harsh criticism.
In a dig at the Centre, Naidu said AP is the only state which will become a deficit state after Centre’s much-touted scaling up of states’ share in Centre’s pool in the 14th Finance Commission recommendations. “We are far below the list. Even the budget let us down. Allocation of just Rs 100 crore for Polavaram, which is our lifeline, is paltry. At this rate, it will take 100 years to complete the project. I don’t want the Centre to cut the benefits of Telangana but only wanted it to create a level-playing field. But the central machinery is not acting up to our expectations. Let us build pressure to the maximum extent,” Naidu said.
