Rahul Gandhi slams Centre for delaying special status to Andhra

New Delhi: Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi on Monday took a dig at BJP-led NDA central government over the delay in granting special status to Andhra Pradesh.

Rahul Gandhi was addressing a rally in Anantapur where he said, "It is the responsibility of the Prime Minister to grant `special state` status to Andhra Pradesh. For the first time in the history of independent India, a promise made by the Central Government of granting special status is not being fulfilled. His words should carry weight."

Not stopping here, the Congress vice-president further accused the central government of adopting a hypocritical stand on the Mahatma National Rural Employment Guarantee Programme Act (MNREGA).

"Even Arun Jaitley ji in a closed room appreciated the MNREGA programme. To which I said why doesn't he say this in the open? Arun Jaitley ji smiled but didn't reply," he added.

"The whole country profited as conditions in villages got better through MNREGA. Under MNREGA, the rural economy enhanced what was reflected nation-wide. We didn`t ask caste or religion of poor, we only said all poor of India be helped through MNREGA," Gandhi said while praising the UPA regime, which introduced this scheme.