While the Telugu Desam Party and the YSR Congress party have been indulging in high-level politicking over demanding special category status from the Centre, veteran Congress leader and MP KVP Ramachandra Rao has been relentlessly fighting for the cause in his own way.
Notwithstanding the failures of his earlier attempts, KVP once again gave a notice for moving a private member bill in the Rajya Sabha on special category status (SCS) and other provisions of the Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Act.
The bill was supposed to be taken up on Friday evening, but it fell through as Rajya Sabha chairman M Venkaiah Naidu announced a holiday for the House on Friday on account of Guru Poornima.
KVP, however, asserted that his fight would continue till Andhra Pradesh gets special category status. He expressed the hope that all political parties would give their support to his private bill, when it comes up for discussion.
“As a citizen of Andhra Pradesh and leader of the Congress and partner of UPA, I strongly believe that we will be able to secure the SCS. The special category status is going to be the agenda and all political parties except the BJP have announced their support to the State in this regard,” he said.
KVP said apart from the assurance given by the then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in Parliament while passing the AP State Bifurcation Bill, that special category status would be granted to Andhra Pradesh, Sonia Gandhi, in her capacity as the AICC chairperson, wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi on June 2, 2014 urging him to keep the promise.
He further said that Sonia Gandhi again on February 19, 2015 shot off another letter to Modi reminding him of the need to accord SCS to the State. But, the BJP leaders were using the media to spread lies that the 14th Finance Commission recommended against granting SCS to AP. However, the Finance Commission officials rejected their claim, KVP said.