Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu, after a meeting with the Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitely said that he urged the Center to fulfill all the promises made to the State at the time of the bifurcation of Andhra Pradesh last year including granting special category status.
Modi also assured the Chief Minister that a final view would be taken on granting special status to the State reconciling with the recommendations of the Finance Commission.
Addressing the media along with Arun Jaitely in New Delhi on Tuesday, Naidu said that he had a thorough discussion on the problems facing Andhra Pradesh and also thanked the Prime Minister for all the help extended to the state so far.
Jaitely on the other said that the Prime Minister assured Naidu that all the commitment made in AP State Reorganisation Act 2014 would be fulfilled.
Modi directed the NITI Aayog to prepare a roadmap to fulfill these commitments.
The one and a half hour long meeting discussed the issue of special status for Andhra Pradesh and national status for Polavaram irrigation project in detail.
Stressing that special category status had become an emotional issue in the state, Naidu, an ally of the BJP said that the lack of infrastructure was hampering the functioning of the nascent state. He wanted Center to help the state till it achieve a level playing field with the other states.
The much awaited meeting was significant in the backdrop of differences in perception of the Center and the state governments on the question of special category status for the truncated state of Andhr Pradesh.
While Telugu Desam government was insisting that Center was committed to give special status entailing in to special economic assistance of the resources starved state, the BJP government at the Center showed marked reluctance in coming forward with any such commitment fearing that it will trigger similar demands from other states.
Chandrababu Naidu said that he drew the attention of Narendra Modi to the assurance in the Reorganization Act that 7 districts of Andhra Pradesh will be given special package on the lines of Bundelkhand.
Naidu also recalled the promise made by him and Modi during the general elections that a world class capital will be built for Andhra Pradesh. “Because of the promises people supported us and now the time has come for us to honor those promises”, he said.
He pointed out that then UPA government had promised that a new city at par with Hyderabad will be developed for Andhra Pradesh as a capital. “They had assured that they will spend as much money as required”.
Thanking the center for its assistance under the reorganization act, Naidu said that the Center had provided Rs
2300 crore to cover the fiscal deficit and Rs 1500 crore for building the new capital.
Though the TDP and the BJP were an alliance partners at the Center and in the state, the delay in getting the special status and special package to the state has become an acute embarrassment for Naidu with the opposition parties breathing down his neck.