AP special category status generates heat in Parliament

New Delhi: The issue of special category status to Andhra Pradesh generated heat in Parliament on Tuesday with government seeking to turn the tables on the Congress insisting that the promise has not been made part of the AP Reorganisation Act which carved separate Telangana out of the undivided state.

"I am a student of Law. Nowhere in the Act this is written about. The bill was brought up by the UPA Government. It does not contain the words of 'special category' status," Parliamentary Affairs Minister M Venkaiah Naidu said in Lok Sabha, amid protests from Congress members who staged a brief walkout.

Taking potshots at Congress, he accused the opposition party of being silent and forgetting the promise when in power while turning violent on the issue when out of power, just to score some political points.

At the same time, he said he also hailed from the same region and stressed that the government has taken a keen interest on the development of Andhra Pradesh soon after it took office and had taken a number of decisions to help the state including on the ambitious Polavaram multipurpose irrigation project.

Asserting that the government has gone little out of the way to help Andhra Pradesh, he reeled out names of a series of projects and institutes that have been granted to Andhra Pradesh including an IIT and an IIM to ensure its speedy development.

In the Rajya Sabha, following protests by Congress members, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley assured the House that the Centre will fullfil all commitments made towards Andhra Pradesh in 'letter and spirit'.

Raising the issue during Zero Hour, Leader of Opposition and Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad said two years ago when the state of Telengana was carved out of Andhra Pradesh, the biggest issue among the two was of capital Hyderabad.

Hyderabad went to Telengana, leading to a revenue loss to Andhra Pradesh, he said, adding then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had on the floor of Rajya Sabha on February 20, 2014 announced measures to mitigate the hardship of Andhra Pradesh including formation of a new capital.

Source: PTI