Congress to make declaration on special category status to Andhra

Vijayawada, Feb 28:  The Congress will make a declaration on special category status to Andhra Pradesh at the March 1 public meeting at Tirupati, state Congress chief Y. S. Sharmila Reddy said on Wednesday.

Sharmila Reddy told media persons here on Wednesday that special category status (SCS) is the most important issue for the state, and the Congress will be making the declaration at the same venue in Tirupati where Prime Minister Narendra Modi had promised that SCS will be accorded to the state.

She recalled that in 2014 when the Congress had promised SCS to Andhra Pradesh for five years, the BJP promised that it would grant SCS for 10 years.

The Congress leader said people would be explained the benefits the state would get with the SCS.

"The state has a 972 km long seashore. Imagine how many new industries would have come to the state with the special category status but the state did not even get 10 new industries," she said.

She said while everyone in the state knows the importance of SCS, the main political parties are silent over this. She said in 2019, the YSR Congress Party (YSRCP) used the SCS for election campaign but after coming to power, backtracked on the promise.

The sister of Chief Minister Y. S. Jagan Mohan Reddy alleged both the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) and the YSRCP did not fight sincerely for SCS in these 10 years. She alleged that both TDP chief Chandrababu Naidu and Jagan became "slaves" to Modi and asked why should people trust them.

She said only the Congress was speaking about the special category status.

The Tirupati public meeting will be the second major meeting of the Congress after Sharmila Reddy took over as state chief.

At the first public meeting at Anantapur on February 25, the Congress unveiled the first guarantee for Andhra Pradesh on the lines of similar guarantees given by it in Karnataka and Telangana.

Addressing the public meeting, party President Mallikarjun Kharge announced that if voted to power Congress will provide Rs.5,000 per month income support to every poor family.