Andhra Pradesh CM N Chandrababu Naidu pleads Centre for sops in Assembly
Vijayawada: Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu on Wednesday said that the Centre should resolve all pending issues before the end of the ongoing Budget Session of Parliament.
Taking a dig at the BJP he said when even AICC president Rahul Ganhi offered to accord special status to the state and had said that it would be first file he would sign on if the Congress retur-ns to power at the Centre in 2019 elections, what stops the BJP from doing so. Giving a statement on state bifurcation issues in the Legislative Asse-mbly, the Chief Minister expressed deep anguish at the denial of special status to Andhra Pradesh.
In an emotion-filled voice, Mr Naidu questioned, “What is this humiliation and injustice to the state?”
It is a matter of self-respect of Andhra people, he said, and demanded that the Centre fulfil all the 18 assurances made in Parliament at the time the state was bifurcated.
Special status is the right of Andhras, Mr Naidu declared, and insisted there was no compromise on the issue. When the Centre has extended special status benefits in the name of budgetary support to North Eastern states, why has it failed to extend the same to AP? he asked.
The CM explained the efforts made to achieve the highest ever growth rate in the state despite the revenue deficit. He refuted criticism that the Centre has been delaying release of funds because his government has not submitted the utilisation certificates, i.e. accounted for the manner in which funds already released have been used.
He explained in detail the funds released by the Centre for the Polava-ram project, building a new capital city and other institutions. Mr Naidu said that the Centre should not penalise the states which are developing in all sectors. He said AP is lagging behind in per capita income and the Centre should extend help to increase the per capita income.
