Kakinada: Union urban development minister M. Venkaiah Naidu cautioned both the Telugu Desam and Bharatiya Janata Party workers that if the BJP and TD part ways, Andhra Pradesh state will be the loser.
Addressing a public meeting here on Friday, organised by the BJP district unit, Mr Venkaiah Naidu said the alliance of the two parties is critical for the growth of the state. They both should work together for the development of the state and if they part ways, the state will suffer, he said. He called Prime Minister Narendra Modi a boon to India.
The world is looking at India because of Mr Modi's vision. He made it clear that the state will not be granted special category status as this has not been included in the AP Reorganisation Act.
Mr Venkaiah Naidu said he had raised the SCS issue in the Rajya Sabha during the bifurcation period, but the then UPA government had not included it in the Act. Though not elected to the Rajya Sabha from AP, he was working towards the development of the state, he said.
He said that there is a difference of three per cent between the SCS and the special package that AP has secured, and the deficit would be filled by the Centre. Some Rs 2,06,800 crore will devolve to AP during these five years, following the 14th Finance Commission’s recommendations.
The Polavaram Project is a great boon to the people of the state and it is the BJP which had cleared all the hurdles in the way of the project, he claimed. The Centre would bear the entire cost as it a national project. The Congress had done nothing except laying a foundation stone in 1982, by the then chief minister T. Anjaiah.
Therefore the Congress leaders have no moral right to criticise the BJP, he said.
Deputy Chief Minister Nimmakayala China Rajappa said Mr Venkaiah Naidu was making great efforts to develop the state.
