Accusing the Centre of not paying attention to his state and fulfilling provisions of the AP Reorganisation Act, 2014, Telangana Deputy Chief Minister Kadiyam Srihari on Thursday demanded Special Category Status (SCS) to his state.
Srihari argued that if Andhra was being granted SCS, Telangana should also be given the same.
The Deputy CM met Union Human Resources Minister Prakash Javadekar in Delhi on Thursday and said that he had conveyed the same message to the Centre.
Speaking to reporters in New Delhi, Srihari said, “We have no problem if Andhra is granted SCS. But if it does get it, then it should not be at the cost of Telangana, as the status comes with special incentives that help the state's growth. Therefore, to ensure that Telangana is not at a disadvantage, the Centre should give the same status to us as well."
The Deputy CM, who is also the state's Education Minister, also demanded that the process of setting up various universities in the state be expedited.
Srihari is not the first senior leader from the Telangana government to make this demand.
Just earlier this week, Telangana Irrigation Minister T Harish Rao demanded that if SCS was going to be granted to Andhra Pradesh, the same should also be extended to his state.
Responding to a political development, where top Congress leadership passed a resolution in New Delhi to grant SCS to Andhra, he asked the national party to clarify its stand on extending the same to Telangana.
“Will the Congress leadership remain silent if any injustice is done to Telangana? The state has already got a raw deal since the Centre has extended national status to Polavaram Project located in Andhra Pradesh, but none of the projects were given the same though Telangana has been demanding it for long," he told a gathering in Sangareddy on Tuesday.
“If Andhra Pradesh alone is given the special category status, then industries will be moved to Andhra, rendering injustice to Telangana. Do the Telangana Congress leaders support SC status for Andhra at the cost of Telangana?” he further asked.