Never said Centre shelved special status proposal for AP: Venkaiah Naidu

Hyderabad, Feb 2: Raising the hopes of granting a spedcial status to Andhra Pradesh, Union Parliamentary Affairs Minister M. Venkaiah Naidu said the proposal was still on cards. Speaking to media persons here, the union minister clarified that he never said 'the proposal was shelved'. Stating that he was misquoted by a section of the media, Venkaiah Naidu said, “I have never said the Centre had shelved the proposal or will not grant it in future." Saying that it was an assurance given by the UPA government on the floor of the Rajya Sabha, the minister said BJP also supported it. "There is no ambiguity on this," he said. Clarifying on the possible time frame for implementing the proposal, Venkaiah Naidu said, “We need to convince all Chief Ministers about the need to convene a meeting of the National Development Council to get it approved. It will take some time. That doesn’t mean we have shelved the proposal.”