Former Minister and TDP member YS Chowdary blamed the erstwhile UPA government for making promises to Andhra Pradesh to compensate it post-bifurcation and said even the current NDA dispensation has not fulfilled them.
“I do not know which government. Government is permanent in nature. Parties would come and go but unfortunately”, the Centre has not fulfilled the assurances given to the state, he said in the Rajya Sabha, a day when his party announced it was quitting the ruling NDA alliance.
Chowdary said the bill to bifurcate the state would not have been passed if the assurances given were not accepted by the members of the House.
“It is the bounden duty of the incumbent government, regardless of the political dispensation, to implement the (Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation) Act along with the assurances in letter and spirit,” Chowdary, who had quit as a Minister of State from the Narendra Modi government few days ago, said.
In the division, Andhra Pradesh lost cosmopolitan city of Hyderabad and the revenue arising from various industries and has remained only an agrarian state, he said.
The TDP member said that various ministries including the Finance Ministry was now saying that the 14th Finance Commission does not provide special category status to any state.
Chowdary asked the government should provide retrospectively its commitment given on the floor of Parliament.
He said the government has already created a sub-group of Chief Ministers to address the continuation of special status to the states of North East and the Himalayan region and the Niti Aayog has extended it.
“The government of India should have been more human to the genuine concerns of five crore people of Andhra Pradesh and try to satisfy their aspiration by constituting similar committee, sub group or task force of cabinet minister to implement it,” Chowdary said reminding that six assurances were given to the state at the time of bifurcation.
His speech was marked by heated exchanges between the Congress and the BJP benches.
