Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister YS Jaganmohan Reddy met Union Home Minister Amit Shah in New Delhi on Friday night and sought his help in getting Parliament's nod to the stringent law enacted by the state Assembly on women's safety.
During the 30-minute meeting held at Shah's residence, Jagan explained the features of the Andhra Pradesh Criminal Law (Amendment) Bill, 2019 (also known as the Disha Act), which provides for a court verdict to be delivered within 21 days in rape cases, mandatory death penalty for such crimes and an increased jail term for sexual offences against minors.
Jagan, who is also the YSRCP president, informed Shah and sought an early nod of the Centre to the Andhra Pradesh government's decisions to have three capitals (at Amaravati, Visakhapatnam and Kurnool), abolish the legislative council and release funds for police modernisation projects.
YSRCP MPs Vijay Sai Reddy and Mithun Reddy, besides officials of the Andhra Pradesh government, accompanied the chief minister during his meeting with Shah.
Earlier this week, Jagan met Prime Minister Narendra Modi and had made the same demand. In a meeting which lasted over 100 minutes, Jagan discussed various state-related issues with Modi.
Jagan informed the Prime Minister that the state Cabinet has approved to have the executive capital in Visakhapatnam, the legislative capital in Amaravati and the judicial capital in Kurnool for which a Bill was passed by the state Assembly.
According to an official release at the time, the chief minister urged Modi to take steps for setting up the High Court in Kurnool. He outlined the need for decentralization of administration and development in the state.
The YSRCP chief also reiterated the demand for Special Category Status (SCS) to the state in the light of the observation made by the 15th Finance Commission. The Chief Minister brought to Modi's notice that the 15th Finance Commission made it clear that according special status to the state is in the purview of the Centre.
With PTI and IANS inputs