CPI(M) Polit Bureau member B.V. Raghavulu on Thursday asserted that the special package announced by the Centre instead of the promised Special Category Status (SCS) would create developmental imbalance in Andhra Pradesh, with complete neglect of the backward regions.
Speaking during a day-long hunger strike organised by the Left parties near the Municipal Corporation of Titupati, Mr. Raghavulu said the State government’s approach in building a world-class capital in Amaravati would once again create another Hyderabad in the new State.
“Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu has been chanting Amaravati since he assumed power. Granting special package instead of SCS would move all resources and finances in developing the region at the cost of several backward regions, including Rayalaseema,” he said.
Recalling the reasons for the Telangana movement, Mr. Raghavulu said that it was underdevelopment/ backwardness that forced people to fight for a separate State, and creating such feelings among the people would not augur well for Andhra Pradesh.
“The ruling parties [both in State and at Centre], instead of making unnecessary promises, should at least live up to the expectations of the people who elected them. Many of them are still unfulfilled even in the CM’s constituency,” he added.
YSR Congress Central Committee member and former MLA Bhumana Karunakar Reddy expressed his solidarity with the protest by the CPI and the CPI(M), which demanded Rs.50,000 crore for the development of the Rayalaseema region.
