No Special Status For Andhra Pradesh: BJP

Despite mounting pressure on the Centre from the TDP-led government and its Opposition the YSR Congress Party, Union Minister for Urban Development M Venkaiah Naidu on Sunday reiterated that there was no chance of the Central government according Special Status to the residuary State of Andhra Pradesh.

Speaking to the media, the Union minister said that as per the 14th Finance Commission, Andhra Pradesh did not fulfill the criteria for Special Status, and it was not possible to accord any such status to it.

He supported the Centre's special package and assured the people of AP that it would benefit the State more than Special Status could. He ridiculed the YSR Congress for claiming that every village and city in Andhra Pradesh would start resembling Hyderabad in terms of development within six months of getting Special Status, and pointed out that it took several years for Hyderabad to develop under various governments.

"The Special Status category will help develop only certain sectors in the State at a time, whereas the special package announced by the Centre will develop all the sectors simultaneously. The YSR Congress needs to get educated on the criteria for Special Status and also on the extent to which it can actually help a State such as AP," he said.

The union minister blamed the previous AP Congress government for splitting united Andhra Pradesh without considering the provisions of the A P Reorganization Act, 2014. He charged the Congress with hypocrisy as it itself did not include any "Special Status" clause in the Reorganization Act for the State.

Slamming the Opposition parties in AP for "slandering" him over the Special Status issue, Naidu pointed out that he was the only person who had tried to ensure that AP was duly compensated for the losses incurred by it due to the bifurcation, when the Act, in 2014, was being discussed in Parliament.