3 states blocking special status to AP: Ashok Gajapati Raju

Vizianagaram, Sept 7: Union Civil Aviation Minister Ashok Gajapati Raju said the states of Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Odisha are blocking special status to Andhra Pradesh even though it was fully eligible for the same. Speaking to a television news channel here this morning, the minister reiterated that AP is fully eligible for the special status and claimed that the Finance Commission itself had said so. He then said, "Even though leaders of all political parties at the state-level were united on the special status, there was no such unity at the central level. That is one of the reasons why special status has become an unattainable grape."