When Telugu Desam Party president and Andhra Pradesh chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu met Prime Minister Narendra Modi in New Delhi just before the budget session of Parliament this year, he submitted a long wish list to the PM.
And that was the last meeting of Naidu with Modi. The PM cared a damn for Naidu’s memorandum and there was no mention of any scheme or project in the central budget.
This forced Naidu to snap ties with the BJP and come out of the NDA, alleging that the Centre was not implementing even a single promise made in the bifurcation act.
On Tuesday, when newly-appointed BJP state president Kanna Lakshminarayana met the Prime Minister, he also submitted a memorandum listing out various assurances mentioned in the bifurcation act.
It was virtually the same representation which Naidu had submitted to Modi a few months ago.
Kanna said he had submitted a 12-point representation requesting the PM for faster implementation of the provisions of the AP Reorganisation Act.
The representation includes points such as granting of Visakahapatnam railway zone, setting up of Kadapa steel plant, Tribal University, port at Ramayapatnam instead of Dugarajapatnam, petrochemical complex in Kakinada, more release of funds for the construction of educational institutions and others.
“I have also requested the PM to approve metro rail projects in Vijayawada and Visakhapatnam, enhance funds to backward districts from Rs 50 crore per district to Rs 150 crore, give GST incentive to the seven backward districts, announce special industrial corridors in four Rayalaseema districts, allot more funds for tribal and fishermen development and give tax incentives for start-ups and incubation centres,” he said.
Had the Centre granted all these demands, the TDP would have no reason to quit the NDA. So, what is the point in Kanna asking for the same demands, when the Centre tried to bluff saying it had implemented 85 per cent of the demands?
Why didn’t Kanna ask for special category status, which has now become a big election issue in AP?
Any answer from Kanna?
