BJP will be decimated in Andhra: TDP
NEWDELHI: Reminding Prime Minister Narendra Modi of what he had promised in front of Lord Balaji, the presiding deity at the famous Sri Venkateswara Swamy temple in the Triumala hills, a furious Telugu Desam Party (TDP) on Friday cursed the Bharatiya Janata Party(BJP) that it would be decimated in Andhra Pradesh in the 2019 elections.
Jayadev Galla, the US-educated MP from Guntur , noted that the BJP’s 2014 manifesto had promised to give Andhra Pradesh five years’ special category status, which would have entitled it to central grants and other incentives, after it was bifurcated to create Telangana.
“In front of Lord Balaji, you promised special status. You asked us to choose Scheme Andhra or Scam Andhra. Why should we have confidence and trust in you? BJP would be decimated in Andhra Pradesh if you don’t fulfil promises,” Galla said in the debate on the no-confidence motion against the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA).
The TDP pulled out of the ruling NDA in March over the government’s denial of special category status to Andhra Pradesh. It initiated the no-confidence motion in the Lok Sabha, saying the Centre’s argument that the 14th Finance Commission was against special status for states was misleading.
Galla claimed that Modi had misled and deceived the people of Andhra Pradesh.
“Do you have respect for what your predecessor (Manmohan Singh) had promised? How can we function if the word of PM is not fulfilled?” Gall said.
TDP functionaries said that on Thursday evening, chief minister Chandrababu Naidu had given clear instructions to party MPs though video conference on what to say in Parliament. The TDP, which will face both Lok Sabha and assembly polls next year, is set to make the Centre’s refusal to give special status to Andhra Pradesh its key poll plank.
Galla’s speech, a mixture of emotion and facts, laid the ground for the future electoral battles. “It’s a blunder to say that the 14th Finance Commission has not recommended special status. We want the union cabinet to take a decision. The Parliament can give us special status,” said Galla.
Referring to the statue of Sardar Patel being built in Gujarat, Galla said, “Statues are getting more funding than the new capital of Andhra Pradesh. We got just ₹1,500 crore to build Amravati. PM Modi wants to build Dholera (a city in Gujrata) as Shanghai. But AP can’t get a world-class city. He promised us all help to build Amaravati in front of Lord Balaji.”
The TDP MP added that on a per capita basis, backward districts of Andhra Pradesh received a tenth of what Bundlekhand got.
“I want to quote what Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel had said. It will be a folly to ignore reality. Facts take their own revenge,” he said.
In Rajya Sabha, TDP protested against an official press release that suggested that TDP is politically isolated. Rajya Sabha chairman M Venkaiah Naidu on Friday ordered a probe into a matter.
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In front of Lord Balaji, you promised special status. You asked us to choose Scheme Andhra or Scam Andhra. Why should we have confidence in you? BJP will be decimated in Andhra if you don’t fulfil promises JAYADEV GALLA, TDP’s member of Parliament