The Centre might concede the demand for special category status to Andhra Pradesh. Prime Minister Narendra Modi is learnt to have indicated this to the Telugu Desam Party MPs at the end of the recent meeting.
According to a senior TDP MP who played a key role in the recent lobbying with the Centre, Modi has agreed to grant special status to AP, since Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu was treating it as a prestige issue.
“However, frankly speaking, the state would not get much from securing the special category status. The maximum additional monetary benefit would be not more than Rs 3,000 crore. It is a myth that the special status would bring new industries and a lot of employment opportunities, as is being propagated by YSR Congress party and other opposition parties. None of the states which got the status in the past has got any such extra benefit,” the MP told media, in an informal chat.
But, since it has now become a sentimental issue, the Centre would concede the demand.
“Yet, we have to do a lot of lobbying to get additional benefits like financial assistance to Polavaram, funds for highways and roads, support to offset the revenue deficit and funds to the backward areas. Special category status will not bring all these benefits to us,” he said.
