Any remote hope that the people of Andhra Pradesh might have had of getting Special Category Status(SCS) have completely evaporated with the decision on Kashmir.
The Modi government will now say that there is no question of SCS to AP when the status has been scrapped for a region like Kashmir.
Andhras are emotionally attached to the issue of SCS because it was a promise made on the floor of Parliament by none other than the Prime Minister of the time Dr Manmohan Singh.
When Venkayya Naidu and Narendra Modi spoke of SCS for AP, people were glad because it would compensate for the loss of Hyderabad.
Ultimately, Andhra Pradesh was betrayed by all the political parties, primarily, the Congress and BJP. But there’s no point in blaming these Parties either because they just capitalized on the issue.
The root of the whole mess is KCR whose Chief Ministerial ambitions resulted in bifurcation.
Now, the two Telugu States cut a sorry figure in Parliament having completely lost their clout because of bifurcation.
And when bifurcation itself happened on the platform of hatred, it is pointless to expect Andhra to work hand-in-hand with Telangana.
The only remaining chance for SCS to Andhra is if Congress comes to power at the Centre in 2024. Given the current scenario, that appears as unlikely as Afghanistan winning the cricket World Cup.
