In a hard-hitting two-and-a-half-hour address in the State Assembly, Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu said it was the right of the people of Andhra Pradesh to have Special Category Status (SCS) conferred as promised by former prime minister Manmohan Singh in the Rajya Sabha and endorsed by the leaders of the BJP. Even Congress leader Rahul Gandhi has now come out openly in favour of SCS.
“We have waited for four long years. I have visited New Delhi 29 times and explained in depth all the issues and urged the Centre to fulfill the promises. Too little is being given too late and people's patience is being tested to the limit. We have joined hands with the BJP only to safeguard the interests of the State and not for any personal gains or political gains,” he said.
“I demand, on behalf of the five crore Andhras, granting of special category status to the State, sanctioning of a new railway zone with Visakhapatnam as the headquarters, enough funds for the Polavaram project, enough allocations for higher educational institutions, construction of Dugarajapatnam port in Nellore district, setting up of a steel plant at Kadapa and a special package for the north-coastal districts and Rayalaseema.”
“This is not my wish list. All these commitments have been made on the floor of Parliament as well as in the election manifestos of both the Congress and the BJP, and above all honourable Prime Minister Narendra Modi himself to the public of the State in the election rallies in 2014.”
Naidu added: “The Prime Minister promised us a capital better than Delhi. So far ₹1,500 crores has been sanctioned for the new capital, Amaravati, apart from ₹500 crore apiece sanctioned for underground drainage in Vijayawada and Guntur. We are yet to get more than ₹2,500 crore spent on the Polavaram project and the revenue deficit has not been bridged yet.”