Hyderabad: The TRS on Sunday reiterated that it would continue to oppose Special Category Status (SCS) to Andhra Pradesh if that meant giving tax incentives and concessions to the state.
Addressing a press conference here, TRS deputy floor leader in Lok Sabha B. Vinod Kumar said industries from Hyderabad would shift to AP if tax incentives were given as part of special category states. It is for that reason that the party did not vote during Friday’s No-Confidence Motion moved by the Telugu Desam against the NDA government.
He refuted the criticism made by TPCC chief N. Uttam Kumar Reddy and legislator A. Revanth Reddy that TRS MPs had failed to bring pressure on the Centre to secure implementation of pending bifurcation-related matters that were promised to TS in the Reorganisation Act, 2014. The Congress leaders had alleged that this was part of a ‘secret pact’ between TRS and BJP.
Mr Vinod said, “This is totally false and baseless. The TRS could effectively highlight the injustice meted to Telangana state by NDA government during the debate by speaking for 23 minutes against the allotted time of nine minutes.”
He added, “How could anyone expect the TRS to support the no-confidence motion which was moved by the TD and supported by the Congress? Both the parties had done injustice to Telangana during their rule and the no-confidence motion moved by them demanding special status for AP would harm the interests of Telangana state. For us, the interests of Telangana state are of paramount importance.”
Condemning allegations of secret pact with the BJP, Mr Vinod said, “There is no need for TRS to maintain secret ties with anyone. In fact, the TD and Congress are maintaining secret ties and this got exposed during the no-confidence motion.”
