Naidu threatens to move SC against Centre

amaravati — Amid a perceived strain in ties with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu on Friday virtually threatened to drag the Centre to court over the unfulfilled commitments made in state Reorganization Act.

The Telugu Desam Party (TDP) President said the state government could move the Supreme Court to get justice.

“We are not asking for any extra favours. We are demanding what is due to us under Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Act. We want the Centre to do the handholding and provide level playing field till the state achieves parity with others. If required, we will go to the Supreme Court on one or two issues,” he said at a conference of district collectors and other officials.

Naidu, who met Prime Minister Narendra Modi last week, said the state will take whatever the Centre gives and then chalk out its future course of action.

During the meeting with Modi, Naidu had urged him to release the pending Rs 164.47 billion through NABARD and make other arrangements to fund projects in the ratio of 90:10 between the Centre and state under the Special Assistance Measure announced last year in lieu of special category status.

Naidu also demanded that the Centre fulfill its commitment to bear the entire expenditure on Polavaram project and sought immediate release of Rs 34.50 billion already spent by the state.

Naidu was also upset with his Telangana counterpart K. Chandrasekhar Rao’s statement that Andhra Pradesh was no comparison to Telangana.

Stating that Andhra Pradesh had the lowest per capita income in the south with a difference of Rs 35,000 with the nearest competitor, Naidu said this was not because of the mistake of people but due to the unscientific decision of the UPA who split the state in 2014. —

We are not asking for any extra favours. We are demanding what is due to us under Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Act Chandrababu Naidu, CM