KURNOOL: As the political chasm between the Telugu Desam and the Bharatiya Janata Party widens over according Special Category status to Andhra Pradesh, the BJP on Friday announced the Rayalaseema Declaration, containing 16 demands that it wants met before the present term of the state government ends. The Declaration was released at the Kurnool conclave attended by several BJP members from the Rayalaseema region.
Political parties are stunned at this development as the BJP, which shares power with the TD in Andhra Pradesh, has been highly critical of the Naidu administration. “Perhaps this is a precursor for snapping ties with the TD,” said a senior BJP leader. A YSR Congress Party leader said the BJP has “downloaded our programme for Seema.”
The Rayalaseema Declaration seeks setting up of a High Court and second capital in Rayalaseema, a Rs 20,000 crore budgetary allocation for Rayalaseema to arrest the deaths of farmers and to control migration. It demands a white paper on the amount of money spent in AP in the last three-and-a-half years and spend the funds on prorata basis in Rayalaseema. The declaration further calls for carving out four more districts in the region, allocation of Rs 20,000 crore in 2018-19 Budget for completion of irrigation projects, completion of Galeru-Nagari visualised by former Chief Minister N.T. Rama Rao, Handri-Neeva, and Guru Raghavendra Swamy projects by 2018-19.
The Declaration said hundreds of crores of rupees had been looted by ruling party leaders in the Rayalaseema region from ongoing projects and demanded an enquiry into this by a retired High Court judge. Revival of the Rayalaseema Development Board, fulfilment of 200 promises made to Rayalaseema in the manifesto of the TD, jobs for every household, reopening of industries that have been shut down, and creating a Rs 5,000 crore fund for welfare of the weaver community in the region were some of the other demands in the Rayalaseema Declaration.
BJP state vice-president Kapil Eswaraiah told Deccan Chronicle that about 70 leaders drawn from all the four districts of Rayalaseema attended the Kurnool conclave and were unanimous in seeking more funds for the development of the region. Asked to comment on why this was being raised at a time when the Special Status issue was a bone of contention between the state and Centre, he said the state government was partial to the development of Amaravati and had never entertained suggestions for the development of Rayalaseema.
He further said that corruption in the ruling party has reached its zenith and the Chief Minister was not bothered to take action against his party members. He alleged that marketing minister C. Adinarayana Reddy had openly said that Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu had told him to share the commissions of irrigation projects with AP Legislative Council whip Rama Subba Reddy. What more proof do you need to rein in ministerial colleagues, Mr Eswaraiah asked.
