Centre did more than promised: BJP

NEWDELHI: Amid a political slugfest in Andhra Pradesh over granting special status to the state, the BJP rejected as ‘propaganda’ the allegation from its ally TDP and Opposition parties that the Centre has not done enough for the southern state.

BJP spokesperson GVL Narsimha Rao said such statements are “deliberate distortion of facts”, and claimed that the Narendra Modi government has “gone beyond its means” to assist Andhra Pradesh after the bifurcation.

Pressure mounted on BJP as YSR Congress Party announced that its MPs will resign on April 6 if the special status was not granted to Andhra Pradesh by April 5, a day before the assembly session ends. Its chief YS Jagan Reddy has demanded TDP chief N Chandrababu Naidu to also ask his MPs to resign if the demand was not met.

The BJP spokesman, however, statements made over the past few weeks by various people about the implementation of The Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Act, 2014 “seem to be deliberate distortion of facts as far as the (Centre’s) support is concerned,” he said. Whatever was promised in the Act, the government has done more than that in a short span of time, he claimed.

Rao, accompanied by party state president K Hari Babu, shared a 17-page note with the media listing Centre’s initiatives for the development of the state.

The two leaders had, on February 10, shared with the media a 27-page note containing the figures of various financial assistance given to the state.

The day after, both the state government and the ruling TDP had rejected the figures as “misleading” and meant to “confuse people”. Andhra Pradesh state planning board vice-chairman Ch Kutumba Rao had described the BJP’s note as “fiction”, saying funds due as part of devolution as per the finance commission’s recommendations were also shown as central assistance.