: An engaging debate over the economic fate of Andhra Pradesh took place in the Rajya Sabha on Thursday with leaders of the Opposition criticising the NDA government for delaying the implementation of the Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Act.
Senior Congress leader Digvijaya Singh asked the government whether it was “serious about the implementation of the Act” and also questioned Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu that if he was “pressuring the Prime Minister” to apply the legislation for his State’s development.
“It’s an emotive issue,” said Mr. Singh, “I don’t know why the Chief Minister is hesitant to fight for his own State.”
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Earlier, senior Congress leader Jairam Ramesh raised similar queries section by section, clause by clause. Since Mr. Ramesh was instrumental as in drafting the Act in early 2014, when the Congress-led UPA government was in power, he argued that the then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had announced that special status would be given to the State and the party had even moved a private member’s Bill but it was the BJP that blocked it then.
Communist Party of India (CPI) leader D. Raja reminded the government that it has a legal binding to implement the Act in its right spirit since the then Prime Minister had promised it to the people of the State.