Hyderabad: Congress President Sonia Gandhi has written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi asking him to to ensure that Special Status is granted to the State of Andhra Pradesh.
In a letter to the prime minister yesterday, Gandhi said,
“I would like to draw your attention to my letter dated 2nd June, 2014, in connection with the implementation of Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Act, 2013. I had requested for ensuring that commitments made to the people of successor state of Andhra Pradesh are fulfilled in letter and spirit.
“But even after 8 months of division of the state of Andhra Pradesh, many of the investment and other commitments made by the Government of India have not been fulfilled,” she said.
The letter was released to the media here by the AP Congress today.
Recalling that the then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had announced special category status to successor state of AP on the floor of Rajya Sabha, she urged Modi to accord the status immediately.
“Please ensure that special category status to the state of Andhra Pradesh is announced immediately and our resolve to fulfil all these commitments in a time-bound manner is conveyed in the special address of the President to the both Houses of Parliament at the commencement of the ensuing Budget session,” she said.
Gandhi also urged the PM to ensure that adequate financial assistance is provided to the state in the budget proposals.
Adequate budget provisions need to be made to various ministries of the Centre to enable implementation of the development package committed in the Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Act, she said.
“In addition, requisite allocations need to be shown in the Railway Budget to fulfil commitments relating to the Indian Railways,” Gandhi said.
Gandhi's letter to the prime minister came following a campaign organised by the Congress in support of realising the promises made to the state. The state Congress had conducted a “one crore signatures campaign” in this regard.
Andhra Pradesh Congress Committee president N Raghuveera Reddy, who met Gandhi and former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in Delhi in the last couple of days, had yesterday said that his party would raise this issue in Parliament as well.
