Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister and TDP chief N Chandrababu Naidu on Thursday wrote to all MPs in the Lok Sabha, seeking their support for the no-confidence motion being moved by his party, which will come up for debate on the floor of the House on Friday.
“I wish to bring to your kind notice, the grave injustice caused to the state of Andhra Pradesh due to inconsistencies in the AP Reorganisation Act, 2014 and non-implementation of assurances made by the then Prime Minister on the floor of the Rajya Sabha,” the two-page letter states.
“The unscientific process, undue haste and lack of transparency while passing the AP Reorganisation Bill, to which all political parties have been witnesses, has resulted in severe economic stress and put severe financial burden on the Andhra Pradesh government,” Naidu added.
The Chief Minister then listed 18 promises that were made to the residual state before bifurcation.
These include Special Category Status (SCS), Polavaram project, Centre’s help to bring down revenue deficit, Amaravati, development of backward districts, new railway zone, Kadapa Steel Plant, establishment of institutions, Dugarajapatnam Port, Visakhapatnam-Chennai industrial corridor, greenfield crude oil refinery and petrochemical complex, tax incentives, metro rail facility in Visakhapatnam and Vijayawada-Guntur-Tenali, Rapid Rail and Road connectivity from new capital to Hyderabad, expansion of Visakhapatnam, Vijayawada and Tirupati airports to international standards, increasing the number of Assembly seats in the state, a Greyhounds training centre and other pending inter-state issues.
“Even though 6 assurances have been included in the main sections of the Act, the progress of implementation of these assurances by the Centre is poor,” the letter stated.
Naidu also pointed out that the BJP, which was in the Opposition during the bifurcation, had not only agreed to the SCS demand, but had also demanded the same for a period of 10 years.
“It is unfortunate to note that the BJP-led NDA government has not even respected its own election manifesto relating to Andhra, which promised SCS and fulfilment of all provisions of the Act, summed up in the above mentioned 18 issues. Further, Prime Minister Narendra Modi during his election campaigns in Tirupati and Nellore assured to accord special status to Andhra and this assurance too is not implemented,” Naidu wrote.
The Chief Minister also said that ‘palpable reluctance and disinterest’ in implementing the assurances was causing ‘severe hardships’ to the citizens of his state.
“In view of the continued adamant attitude of the BJP government, TDP has moved a no-confidence motion against the Modi government again, in the ongoing Monsoon Session of Parliament… I sincerely appeal to you to support the no-confidence motion moved by our MPs and shall be thankful for your support in further carrying forward with the motion of no-confidence,” he added.
The BJP-led NDA government and the Opposition dug in for a showdown in the Lok Sabha after Speaker Sumitra Mahajan on Wednesday admitted the no-confidence motion and said that it would be taken up on Friday for discussion and voting.
The Speaker, who took up the Opposition backed move after the question hour on the first day of the monsoon session, said she was duty-bound to put it before the House.
She said Kesineni Srinivas of the TDP was the first to give his no-confidence notice. She asked him to read out the motion, which was supported by over 50 members, including those from the Congress, Trinamool Congress, Nationalist Congress Party, Samajwadi Party, Aam Aadmi Party and the CPI-M.