At a time when the Bharatiya Janata Party is extremely confident that the party led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi would get three-fourths majority at the Centre in the coming elections, YSR Congress party president and Andhra Pradesh chief minister Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy has other hopes.
Speaking in the state assembly on Tuesday, Jagan wished that the ruling party at the Centre would not get absolute majority in the next elections, but depend on the support from YSR Congress party for survival.
Andhra Pradesh would have got the special category status had the Bharatiya Janata Party government at the Centre fallen short of majority mark and depended on the YSRCP for survival.
“The only possibility for AP to get special category status is to have a favourable government at the Centre that will rely on our support and fulfil our state's demands. I strongly wish whichever party that comes to power at the Centre in coming elections should not get absolute majority. At least then, we can expect the special category status to AP,” Jagan said in the assembly.
Stating that Andhra Pradesh was unjustly divided, the chief minister said the previous Central government had misled the people on special category status by not including it in the AP Reorganisation Act.
“Had the Union government given a written instead of an oral assurance on special category status in the Parliament, then we could have waged a legal battle and got the special category status,” he said.
Interestingly, Jagan has deviated, albeit indirectly, on the capital city and advocated development of a single capital city for the state.
“A state should have economic powerhouses in the form of cities like Hyderabad, Bengaluru or Chennai,” he said.
Jagan said such cities are absolutely essential for any state to develop.
“AP is incurring a loss of Rs 13,000 crore every financial year due to biased distribution of assets under the AP Reorganisation Act. In the last 10 years, the state has lost Rs 1.40 lakh crore by losing right over Hyderabad,” he said.
The chief minister said the opposition parties were afraid of taking on the YSRCP independently.
“What is the need for all opposition parties to unite and conspire against YSRCP if they think that the government did not fulfill its promises or did no good to the people?” he asked.
He said by joining hands with one another, the Opposition has exposed itself.
“It is clear that they are scared of us because our government delivered welfare & development. Despite all of them being on one side against us, they still are not powerful enough,” he asserted.
