Fight for Special Status will continue: Jagan

New Delhi, Aug 10 (INN): Taking Delhi by storm, YS Jagan Mohan Reddy has castigated the Centre for going back on its word of according special status to Andhra Pradesh and TDP for keeping its mouth shut as it has traded the state interests for its personal reasons and has asserted that their pursuit for Special Status will continue relentlessly thereby calling for a State-wide bandh on August 28 ahead of the assembly session.

'While the BJP was in opposition it has been vociferous asking for Special Status to Andhra Pradesh for ten years and had included it in its 2014 election manifesto as well. After coming to power it has changed the tune and is blaming Finance Commission and searching for reasons to evade the special status issue while TDP has been silent in bargain for not opening cases against Chandrababu Naidu and other leaders on the serious charges they are facing,' Jagan Mohan Reddy said addressing a large gathering at Jantar Mantar here on Monday.

Nailing the lies of the Centre that the 14th Finance Commission has no distinction between states having special status and others, the Leader of Opposition in Andhra Pradesh Assembly said,' the issue of special status is not within the purview of the Finance Commission. The issue comes under the purview of National Development Council (NDC) of which the Prime Minster himself is the Chairman.

'In reply to a question raised in the Lok Sabha by our Party, the Government has said that there is no proposal to scrape the special status to Northeastern states. In that case why the BJP with all its loud and tall talk of according ten year special status to Andhra Pradesh is going back on its word after coming to power is the question we are raising.

The special status issue came up during the voting for the State Reorganisation Bill and the Government has agreed for it as Andhra Pradesh will be deprived of revenue from industries and software as they are concentrated in Hyderabad which goes to the other state of Telangana in the process of division.

Special status enables us to get more percentage of central funds in the form of grants and exemption for many taxes and duties which will attract investments and the process of development will speed up with the high economic activity and the quality of life increases manifold.

Though Chandrababu Naidu and his MPs boasted of casting the first vote for the division of the State, he is silent now as he is deeply involved in the cash for vote case, irregularities in Pattiseema project and allotting contracts to companies and persons who were earlier pulled up for their laxity and to cover up all his nefarious deeds.

From our side we have asked the TDP government to pass a unanimous resolution seeking special status and to take an all-party delegation to Delhi to mount pressure on the special status but the State did not yield as it has worked out a compromise formula and has traded the state interests to get political and commercial favours more so, the assurance that there would be no inquiry in to the cases, Chandrababu Naidu is facing,' he said.

Asserting that the fight will not stop here and they will take it forward, the YSRCP President has given a state-wide bandh call on August 28 three days before the assembly session slated for August 31. It is very unfortunate that one person MuniKoti had self immolated himself seeking special status as he had foreseen that at least one generation will suffer in backwardness if the special status is not given.

Training his guns on Rahul Gandhi, he said ' Congress which has divided the state in an undemocratic manner, has been mum on the issue for over 17 months and did not even raise the issue in the Parliament even once but this man comes to Andhra and says that they should fight for special status.'

The state was divided against the wish of 60 % of the people and even in Lok Sabha it was done in dark after suspending agitating members and switching off the live telecast. Congress, BJP and TDP were responsible for the division and when it comes to compensate the loss they shirking responsibility.

CPI(M) solidarity: The Party has got a shot in the arm with CPI(M) General Secretary Sitaram Yechuri coming on to the dais and expressing solidarity with YSRCP on the issue of Special Status.

'We will support Jagan and his party on the issue. We will voice our concern in the Parliament and outside by participating in various dharnas. We have opposed the division of the State in the Parliament when the Bill came up for discussion we said that the division will lead to many problems in the coming days. We will support the cause of special status at all forums,' he said.