YSRCP calls for AP bandh on Aug 28 on special status issue

Hyderabad: Vowing to continue his party's fight for realising the promise of special status to Andhra Pradesh, YSR Congress president Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy on Monday called for a bandh on August 28 ahead of the Legislative Assembly session.

"While the BJP was in opposition, it was vociferously asking for special status to Andhra Pradesh for ten years and included it in its 2014 election manifesto as well," a YSRCP release quoted Jagan Mohan Reddy as saying at a protest held by his party at Jantar Mantar in Delhi.

"However, after coming to power, it has changed the tune and is blaming Finance Commission and searching for reasons to evade the special status issue while TDP has been silent in the bargain for not opening cases against Chandrababu Naidu and other leaders on the serious charges they are facing," he said.

He hit out at the BJP for allegedly going back on the promise of giving special status to AP.

"In reply to a question raised in the Lok Sabha by our party, the government has said that there is no proposal to scrape the special status to northeastern states. In that case why is the BJP with all its loud and tall talk of according ten year special status to Andhra Pradesh going back on its word after coming to power," he said.

Special status enables AP to get more percentage of Central funds in the form of grants and exemption for many taxes and duties which will attract investments thus speeding up the process of development, Reddy said.

"Though Chandrababu Naidu and his MPs boasted of casting the first vote for the division of the state, he is silent now as he is deeply involved in the cash-for-vote case, irregularities in Pattiseema project and allotting contracts to companies and persons who were earlier pulled up for their laxity and to cover up all his nefarious deeds," he said.

Asserting that the fight will not stop with the protest in Delhi, the YSRCP president gave a state-wide bandh call on August 28, three days before the Assembly session slated for August 31.