Pavan Kalyan-Chandrabau meeting was being seen as an indication of two strong allies joining forces to take on the Modi Government. Some top Government officials including the Principal Secretary to the Chief Minister were also present in the meeting. “Apart from the special status, other issues like land Acquisition for the capital near Guntur also figured in the discussions,” sources said.
Apart from Naidu, many other State Ministers and TDP leaders have also shared their disappointment and said everybody in the State was feeling let down by the treatment given to AP in the Budget.
Naidu-Pavan meeting assumes significance as the popular actor had recently taken to social media to demand fulfilling the promise of according special status to Andhra Pradesh. Pavan, who commands huge popularity in Andhra, had campaigned aggressively in support of TDP-BJP alliance in last year’s general elections addressing several meetings with the Prime Minister.
The meeting has set off speculations that TDP and Pavan Kalyan were planning to toughen their stand for a hard bargain with Prime Minister Narendra Modi on securing a better treatment for their State.
Sources said that Sunday’s meeting decided that Naidu and Pavan Kalyan will together go to New Delhi to meet the Prime Minister to represent the case of the State. later, Pavan Kalyan will visit the area of proposed new capital of AP.
TDP sources said that if Prime Minister Modi still fails to give a favorable response to the pleas of the State Government specially on the issue of funds allocation, the party will be forced to have a direct confrontation. Naidu himself dropped sufficient hints to this effect when he said that the Budget had made insignificant allocations to Andhra Pradesh and he was unable to digest it.
Naidu was piqued that none of his pleas were considered in the Budget. He had made representations to the Prime Minister and various other Ministers to give special category status and also extend tax incentives on the lines of Uttaranchal and Himachal Pradesh. Financial package to the backward areas, bigger allocations for Polavaram irrigation projects, funds for the construction of the new capital and series of ports and bridging the gap of Rs15,692 crore between the revenue and expenditure of the State.
While Rs100 crore was allocated for Polavaram, all other demands in his wish list were ignored in the Budget.