Give time to Centre on SCS and Act, says Haribabu

“Govt. carrying out an exercise on how to go about it and to which extent”

Acknowledging that there is a strong desire among people to get Special Category Status (SCS) for Andhra Pradesh and they also want benefits from the A.P. Reorganisation Act, State BJP president and Visakhapatnam MP K. Haribabu has said the Central Government is also favourably inclined to give the benefits of the Act and on the SCS issue.

“The Government is carrying out an exercise on how to go about doing it and to which extent, including on the special status. We should give sometime to the government,” Mr. Haribabu told The Hindu , reacting to the Tirupati speech of actor Pawan Kalyan on SCS.

“After the government acts and comes forward with what it is going to do we can further talk about,” he said.

Mr. Haribabu refused to comment on Mr. Pawan’s statement that he had waited for 33 months and was impatient and he was pressing for only what Prime Minister Modi promised during pre-election meetings.

He, however, reminded Mr. Pawan that the Union government was taking action on giving all the benefits. The Act gave a time of 10 years but the Government had already started doing things and cited the setting up of academic institutions. It was also carrying out an exercise on the SCS.

On Mr. Pawan criticising Union Ministers M. Venkaiah Naidu and Arun Jaitley or stating he would not meet the Prime Minister on the issue, Mr. Haribabu said: “Politics are dynamic and every political party has to address a dynamic situation and BJP is aware of it.”

On whether he saw any political motives to the actor chalking out a plan of action, the BJP leader said the Congress or YSRCP demanding it had a political motive. “But basically, we are not differing on the issues mentioned by him,” he said.