TDP minister seeks Jaitley response over Andhra issue

In a sign that the ruling BJP’s ties with ally Telugu Desam Party’s ( TDP) is under strain, Union minister and TDP member Y. S. Chowdary sought a response from Union finance minister Arun Jaitley on the concerns raised by the MPs of Andhra Pradesh over the budgetary allocation.

It is rare that a Union minister makes such a demand in the House.

“There should be respect of members and not the numbers. The finance minister should reply on this in 15 days... This is my suggestion,” he said, adding that if this does not happen in 15 days, then there should be allocation of at least two hours to discuss the issue.

Mr Chowdary said several projects under the Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Act like the Polavaram project, a steel plant at Kadapa district, and a separate railway zone for the state in Visakhapatnam have remained unaddressed in this year’s Union Budget.

The TDP alleges that the BJP had reneged on its promises made at the time of bifurcation of Andhra Pradesh.

Meanwhile, the Lok Sabha on Thursday witnessed noisy scenes with TDP and members from YSR Congress — totaling about 15 — created a ruckus for the third consecutive day with sloganeering, display of placards, lying down in the Well of the House as well as tomtoming with a “dambru” ( a small twoheaded drum) to seek financial and other assistance for Andhra Pradesh.

Amid the din, the Speaker continued with the proceedings that were only briefly interrupted for about 15 minutes sometime before Zero Hour commenced.