The Union government's reasons for not granting special category status to Andhra Pradesh is “flawed, unreasonable, unjustified and untenable,” said YSRCP Rajya Sabha Member V Vijayasai Reddy on Monday. Speaking on the Motion of Thanks to the President's address, he also termed the reduction of borrowing limits of the state as "step-motherly treatment".
Reddy alleged the Union government was taking advantage of the Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Act, 2014, which was "loosely drafted" by the previous Telugu Desam Party (TDP) government with "many anomalies and lacunae" in it. Andhra Pradesh lost Hyderabad as its capital when it was bifurcated. But when the BJP bifurcated Bihar, Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh, none of the residual states lost their capital cities, he said.
The YSRCP MP asserted that when Andhra Pradesh was bifurcated, the state was promised special category status by then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. "The Union government (now) has given six reasons for not granting special category status, which are totally flawed and unreasonable, unjustified and untenable," Reddy said.
Reasons such as economic status of the state, no mention of 'special category status' in the Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Act, 2014, and "politically not possible" cannot be the basis for denying the promised status to the state, he argued. "We have absolutely no objection if the Union government is willing to grant special category status to Odisha and Bihar. But that can't be the reason for not granting special category status to the state of Andhra Pradesh," Reddy said.
He argued in the House that when Uttarakhand was carved out of Uttar Pradesh, there was no mention of special category status in the Uttar Pradesh Reorganisation Act, 2000. But the BJP "has given it" to Uttarakhand, he said. The YSRCP MP cited Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman's promise made during the Puducherry elections of granting special status to Puducherry.
He also cited the report of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Commerce, which he chairs, that has recommended special status for Andhra Pradesh, Jharkhand and Chhattisgarh. "We can't have two rules, one for the states that are being ruled by the BJP and another rule for states which are being governed by non-BJP parties," he said.
Reddy said the special category status for Andhra Pradesh was a matter of sentiment, even though it may be an electoral issue for the BJP. Highlighting the reduction in the borrowing limits of Andhra Pradesh, he said, "The Telugu people in Andhra Pradesh are being punished for over-borrowing and mismanagement of finances by the previous TDP government."
If the Union government wanted to punish the state for over-borrowing, why wasn't it being rewarded for under-borrowing during the Congress government of YSR Reddy in an undivided Andhra Pradesh, Reddy said.
Asking Home Minister Amit Shah to give due credit to the under-borrowing by the state in the past, he said Andhra Pradesh is still maintaining its borrowing and fiscal discipline. "The only thing is the lack of support from the Central government... please do not show step-motherly treatment to Andhra Pradesh," Reddy said.