Special Category Status becomes a politically hot issue again

May 16, 2016 12:00 am | Updated 07:10 am IST - VIJAYAWADA

: The issue of Special Category Status (SCS) for Andhra Pradesh has again become the flavour of a rather hot summer season here, with political parties caught in a race to hog the limelight, the Opposition YSRC and Congress, in particular, finding in it a not-to-be missed opportunity to hit out and embarrass the TDP government.

The political posture by Opposition parties is quite understandable given the mileage it gets from the sentiment attached to SCS in Andhra Pradesh.

But a surprise development is the way BJP, the avowed friendly ally of the ruling Telugu Desam Party, is trying to fish in troubled waters, by allowing Union Ministers and senior leaders to publicly speak out of turn and swear by the impossibility of A.P. getting the much-sought after SCS.

Apparently, TDP leaders see a sinister design in this BJP’s running with hare and hunting with hound strategy, providing ammunition to Opposition’s fire power while appearing to be extending a helping hand to the State.

For all his political shrewdness, the Chief Minister, N. Chandrababu Naidu too finds himself in a spot, unable either to take on the BJP-led NDA government as aggressively as the YSRC wants him to, by withdrawing support and walking out of the Union Cabinet or come up with a well-thought out cogent explanation on the status of SCS or the futility of pressing for it. He may not be able to dodge the issue further, considering the fact that not just his political detractors, others like student and youth groups are gearing up to launch an agitation to highlight the demand. . In fact, an elaborate internal exercise has been undertaken to compare SCS with benefits flowing out of special package and other existing Central schemes for attracting industry but it is not being made public for the fear of adverse reaction from people and the way it could give a handle to the Opposition.The 14{+t}{+h}Finance Commission too was dismissive of the SCS on the ground that the States were now in a better position with the substantial increase in flow of funds from the Centre. The question then is should political parties continue to see SCS in isolation and play politics or take a leaf out of Tamil Nadu and come on the same page burying their political differences in jointly building pressure on Centre in getting what is due for a State so precariously placed financially and infrastructure-wise.

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