Andhra Pradesh Bandh: Statewide Shutdown Over Special Status Category, Security Tightened
The leaders from across parties in Andhra Pradesh, despite their differences, have been very vocal about the need for Special Status for the state and have blamed the Narendra Modi government for not granting the status to the state.
Andhra Pradesh, April 16: The Pratyeka Hoda Sadhana Samithi has called a statewide bandh in the state of Andhra Pradesh demanding the Special Category Status (SCS) be granted to the state of Andhra. The Special Category Status row had led to the Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu resigning from the NDA govenment over a month ago. Meanwhile, the state government has assured its people that it won't let normal life get disrupted due to the bandh. On Sunday, Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu, via a teleconference instructed ministers and state police to “prevent anti-social elements from creating untoward incidents”. The Chief Minister also advised restraint on the part of the protesters so that no inconvenience is caused to the people.
The leaders from across parties in Andhra Pradesh, despite their differences, have been very vocal about the need for Special Status for the state and have blamed the Narendra Modi government for not granting the status to the state. However, the Centre has been assuring the people of Andhra Pradesh that it will do everything to help the cause of Andhra people. The Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) had promised the Special Category Status (SCS) to the state of Andhra during the 2014 Lok Sabha campaining. Schools and banks as well as government offices will remain open and working despite the bandh.
The Special Category Status has become the bone of contention between the Centre and state parties in Andhra. Leaders like N Chandrababu Naidu, Pawan Kalyan, Jaganmohan Reddy have been criticising the Modi government claiming that injustice has been done to the people of Andhra Pradesh. Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu had accused Prime Minister led Narendra Modi government of following an oppressive policy instead of attempting to resolve the issue of granting special category status to the state. Addressing an all-party meeting here, Naidu categorically stated that his Telugu Desam Party (TDP) would now 'stand against' the Prime Minister Modi's government.
The Protests for Special Status for Andhra Pradesh threatens to intensify with every passing day and can further add to the troubles of the government in Centre. The YSR Congress on March 15 had given a notice for moving a no-confidence motion against the BJP-led NDA government following the Centre's refusal to grant special category status to Andhra Pradesh and had found unlikely support from its arch-rival Telugu Desam Party. N Chandrababu Naidu was in New Delhi on April 2 and 3 to meet leaders of various political parties and seek their support for the demand of special status to the state. The Chief Minister had met non-BJP parties to explain the "injustice" done to Andhra Pradesh post-bifurcation and how the NDA government "failed" to honour the promises made in the Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Act, 2014.
Earlier, the Jana Sena Party chief Pawan Kalyan had declared that he was snapping the alliance with N Chandrababu Naidu's Telugu Desam Party (TDP). He had also confirmed that he will join hands with the Left parties, CPM and CPI in the next elections. The Jana Sena Party president had also attacked Finance Minister Arun Jaitley for saying that he had hurt the sentiments of the Andhra people by saying that special status cannot be given a special status category.
(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Apr 16, 2018 09:54 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).