APCC president N. Raghuveera Reddy on Wednesday demanded that the BJP explain what prevented it from according Special Category Status (SCS) to Andhra Pradesh after committing itself to it in Parliament.
He also sought to know why the TDP had been simply nodding its head to the excuses being cited by the BJP for not conferring the SCS.
Pledging the party’s support to the Pratyeka Hoda Sadhana Samiti’s fight for the SCS at Dharna Chowk here, Mr. Reddy said the SCS was the most important promise that the ruling combine had given at the time of bifurcation of the State. The TDP had clearly given up its responsibility to the people, he added.
The TDP did not have the courage to question the BJP as to why it was unable to keep its word due to its political compulsions, he said.
During his recent visit to Vijayawada, BJP national president Amit Shah had reiterated that the NDA Government could not give SCS because the 14th Finance Commission did not allow it. But the Chief Minister did not dare to demand that the State’s right should be protected, Mr. Raghuveera Reddy said.
“We are going to mount pressure on the BJP to give SCS during our meeting in Guntur on June 4,” he added.
CPI State secretary K. Ramakrishna, city Congress president Malladi Vishnu, and CPI (M) leader Ch. Babu Rao were present.
