Kurnool: Amid the raging controversy over shifting of Amaravati as the capital city of Andhra Pradesh, the BJP state president Kanna Lakshminarayana said any move on Amaravati was ill advised and would have devastating consequences on the growth and development of the State. He said regional parties had lost their relevance and only national parties like the BJP could hold the nation together. Several top leaders from YSRC, TD and Congress were joining the BJP in the State across all the districts and it augured well for the party to forge a strong and united opposition in 2024 elections, he said.
Mr Lakshminarayana was addressing party cadre on Wednesday at Kurnool. The new membership drive was encouraging as 36,000 new members were already added to the BJP. He said mandal-level elections would be held in September followed by district-level elections in October to elect party representatives. The party would elect state-level leaders in November, he said.
Referring to special category status to Andhra Pradesh, Mr Lakshminarayana said that it was a closed chapter and added that the Prime Minister was exploring the possibilities of assisting states like AP within the existing framework. He assailed YSRC leaders including CM Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy for sustaining hopes on special category status. “They are deluding the people of AP,” he said and added that a sagacious government would try to tap the Union government for devolution of funds through legitimate channels.
On Rayalaseema region development, he said that a roundtable conference would be called with intellectuals and a working group formed that would suggest ways to improve the region.
