The Andhra Pradesh unit of the Congress has decided to send digital rakhis to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, to put pressure on the Centre, to fulfill its promises to the state.
Releasing a 'poster' of the rakhi in Vijayawada on Sunday, AP Congress president N Raghuveera Reddy said that women workers of the party would send them to the PM.
The Times of India reported that the rakhis have Rahul Gandhi's image in the centre and carry slogans on special category status, railway zone, steel factory, sea port, special package for backward districts and other promises that the Centre had made to Andhra Pradesh.
Appealing to women across the state to support the campaign, Reddy accused the Centre of going back on its main promise of 'Special Status' to Andhra Pradesh.
The TOI report also quoted him as saying that the Congress had mobilised the support of 14 parties at the national level in support of the demand for the special category status to the state.
“This is literally the lifeline of the divided part of the State that has lost enormously. Another lifeline is the Polavaram multi-purpose irrigation project, which is facing severe neglect despite being declared a national project. In addition to this, Uttarandhra and Rayalaseema were promised special financial package and railway zone,” Reddy was quoted as saying.
The demand for a separate railway zone, with its headquarters in Visakhapatnam, is a long-standing one, often clubbed with protests for ‘Special Status’ to Andhra.
The two demands have been ongoing ever since the state was bifurcated in 2014.
Even during the 2014 elections, both the parties BJP and TDP, had promised the special status for 10 years.
However, after BJP came to power, the Centre ruled out special status, citing a report of the 14th Finance Commission, which dictates that no state other than north-eastern and hilly states could be given this status.
Earlier this year, during his visit to Andhra, Congress Vice-President Rahul Gandhi promised that special category status will be given to Andhra Pradesh, if his party is voted to power in the 2019 assembly elections.