Hyderabad: The Centre’s 1,269 crore dole out to Andhra Pradesh has failed to pacify the Telugu Desam Party as unhappy party MPs reminded the BJP that their demand of a special package for the state has support cutting across party lines, in a veiled threat that it would have no shortage of partners if it decides to walk out of the alliance.
“All parties and all MPs, even BJP MPs, from Congress, NCP, TMC, BJD, Shiv Sena, Akali Dal, TRS – all parties are supporting our demands,” Guntur MP Jayadev Galla said at a press conference on Sunday.
“The reason why there is such comprehensive support cutting across ruling party, alliance partners, neutral parties and opposition parties is because they have seen that our demands are genuine and justified and necessary for our state to recover financially after the severe negative impact of bifurcation,” he added.
Galla, who was flanked by state party chief Kala Venkat Rao, MP Ram Mohan Naidu and party leader Kutumaba Rao, said that BJP was trying to avoid the real issue of giving special status to the state by releasing funds that were already rightfully theirs. “General budgetary allocations should not be confused with the special package,” he said.
The Centre had on Saturday released the sum under different heads in what was seen as a sweetener amid a strain in ties. The gross grant included Rs 417.44 crore for the Polavaram multipurpose project, one of the issues of contention between the allies.
But Galla said that Polavaram was just one of the pressing issues. “There are five items which we consider as priority for the state including Polavaram, Amaravati, budget deficit, special package in lieu of special status and a railway zone,” he said.
The TDP has been at loggerheads with the Centre over the "raw deal" given to AP in the Union Budget 2018-19 and the party MPs have protested in Parliament on the issue saying no specific allocations were made to the state.
TDP leaders said they have been pushed to the corner by the BJP leadership and have no option but to take on its ally to get their due. AP chief minister Chandrababu Naidu has repeatedly voiced concerns about the special package, held emergency meetings with party leaders and had also threatened to go his own way if needed.
Galla also took on Andhra Pradesh’s BJP chief, Hari Babu, who had presented a 27-page report on Saturday, by saying that he is just trying to bring in confusion by quoting irrelevant figures for funds which are rightfully theirs.
MP Ram Mohan Naidu went a step further and said that BJP has made a mockery of the issue by distorting facts, together with the YSR Congress Party.
“On one hand we have school children signing one lakh cards to send to PM asking special status to state. On other hand we have YSRCP and BJP distorting the facts and making this serious issue a mere mockery for the state,” he said.
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