The Rayalaseema Rashtra Samiti (RRS) felt betrayed by the change in the stand of the BJP on the grant of Special Category Status (SCS) to Andhra Pradesh after coming to power.
The BJP in fact promised SCS to the State for 10 years as against five promised by the then Prime Minister, Manmohan Singh, at the time of the State's bifurcation, said RRS president Kuncham Venkata Subba Reddy.
It was “atrocious” on the part of Union Minister M. Venkaiah Naidu to now say that the Congress had not included the SCS in the State Reorganisation Act, he felt.
The Centre made a measly allocation under Special Development Package for Rayalaseema as the TDP, he alleged.
Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu was repeating the same mistake of capital-centric development witnessed during his earlier stint in office in the united Andhra Pradesh, neglecting the Rayalaseema region, from which he hailed, he complained, and called for a movement to press for creation of Greater Rayalaseema.
Funds for early completion of irrigation and other projects in the backward region could be ensured only then, he argued.
Railway zone
Expressing concern over the inordinate delay in the creation of a railway zone, he pressed for location of a separate Railway zone at Guntakal. Only then unemployed youth from this region could get a good number of jobs in the Railways, he added.
Movement to press for creation of Greater Rayalaseema need of the hour, says its president
