Jagan blames CM for SCS failure, calls for AP bandh on August 2
YSR Congress Party president Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy has appealed to the people of Andhra Pradesh to participate in the State-wide bandh on August 2 and register their protest against the Union government’s refusal to grant Special Category Status to AP on account of bifurcation of the combined State. Speaking to the media in Hyderabad on Saturday, Jagan Mohan Reddy called upon the trade unions, associations, political parties and organizations to come forward and make the bandh a grand success. He criticized Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu for his “total failure” in achieving SCS for the State and charged him with duping the people of the State. The YSRCP chief alleged that Chandrababu Naidu had amassed Rs 1.5 lakh crore illegally by corrupt practices. He was also involved in the “Cash for Vote” scam. To escape from the scam, he was not raising his voice against the BJP Government on the issue of special status, he alleged. Jagan also referred to a recent report by NCAER (National Council for Applied Economics and Research), which ranked AP as the most corrupt State in the country. Expressing dismay over the way the discussion on special status in the Rajya Sabha was done during the past two days, Jagan slammed the TDP for failing to pressurize the NDA Government on the issue. Jagan further alleged that the TDP had colluded with the BJP in harming the interests of people. He also found fault with Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley for deviating the issue from the core focus as special status would enable States to get 90 percent of the funds as against 40 percent in the normal way. The YSRCP leader replayed a recorded speech of Prime Minister Narendra Modi at Tirupati during the elections, wherein he promised Special Category Status to Andhra Pradesh and charged the NDA government with not fulfilling the poll promise. In view of August 2 Bandh, the districts tour of Jagan Mohan Reddy had been cancelled and the party would announce a fresh schedule later.
