VIJAYAWADA: Alleging that the BJP-led NDA government was discriminating against Andhra Pradesh by citing ambiguity in the wording of the AP Reorganisation Act, 2014, Telugu Desam MP Galla Jayadev has said it was setting a ‘dangerous precedent’ by reneging on the promises made during the bifurcation of the State.
Jayadev fired the opening salvo after his colleague and Vijayawada MP Kesineni Srinivas (Nani) moved the no-confidence motion, the first against the BJP-led NDA government in four years, in the Lok Sabha on Friday. The TDP’s star during the Budget Session was given 58 minutes to place the State’s grievances before the House, though, initially, just 13 minutes was allotted for his party. Incidentally, this is also the first time that a first-time MP initiated the debate on a no-confidence motion in the Lower House.
Making full use of the opportunity, the Guntur MP launched a broadside against the Modi government right from the word go with a reference to his brother-in-law and Tollywood actor Mahesh Babu’s recent blockbuster Bharat Ane Nenu, which emphasises the importance of keeping poll promises. Stating that the saga of Andhra Pradesh under the Modi-Shah regime is one of the empty promises, Jayadev recalled that the then prime minister Manmohan Singh had given six assurances, including Special Category Status (SCS), in 2014 and questioned, “but, the Centre has not implemented any of them.
Mr Prime Minister, do you have any respect for the commitments made by your predecessors? Indeed, should you even have a choice? What value does the word of a PM given on the floor of the House have? Can we believe, that if you give an assurance, it will be fulfilled in the future, even if you are not around?” He added that instead of correcting the ambiguous wording, the BJP supported the Congress in dividing the State which made both the parties guilty.
In his lengthy speech, he took the House down the memory lane, pointing out that after the Congress had sliced Andhra Pradesh into two undemocratically and in an unscientific manner, Modi, who visited the residual State before becoming the PM, remarked that the grand old party killed the mother and saved the child. “He also said that had he been in power, he would have saved the mother too. But, even after four years, he, through his ministers, denied SCS claiming that if AP’s demands exceed the Act, other States would also demand the same,” he said and described the argument put forward by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley for denying SCS to AP as trivial and frivolous. Jayadev’s address was interrupted by TRS MPs, who took objection to his remarks on State bifurcation.
Jayadev placed on record statements of the members of the 14th Finance Commission that they had never recommended denial of SCS to AP to corner the Centre. He also clarified that the TDP always wanted SCS and denied that TDP president and CM Chandrababu Naidu took a U-turn as alleged by the BJP and Opposition parties. “You deceived us into accepting the Special Package by using 14th Finance Commission as an excuse. To add injury to insult, we haven’t received a single paisa promised in the package. So, I wish to clarify to the critics of CM Naidu and TDP, we are treading the right path. It is only you who are changing the goal posts for nefarious political gains,” he alleged.
While AP needs `1.54 lakh crore to stand on its feet, the Centre has given only `13,472 crore, he said. “All the funds are given to AP so far are due to the provisions of the AP Reorganisation Act, and not out of magnanimity. Does giving 2-3 per cent of what we need amount to fulfilling the promises?” he asked. Jayadev also accused the BJP of discriminating against AP only after the TDP severed ties with the NDA, and added that the saffron party was now getting close to the rivals of the TDP. “The YSRC is now on the guest list of PM Modi and BJP national president Amit Shah,” he alleged. He also accused PM Modi of supporting corrupt politicians like Gali Janardhan Reddy.
Clarifying that the TDP does not want the clock turned back, he said the entire State only requests justice be done to it. After Jayadev concluded his speech, Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman objected to the Guntur MP remarks on PM.
Jayadev Speak
AP’s fight is a war between majority and morality, a war between Modi-regime and five crore people of AP, a war against discrimination shown by the
Modi regime towards AP, a war
to honour an Act of Parliament and assurances made by a Prime Minister in Parliament, and between the authoritarian, machiavellian attitude of
the Modi regime -- a Dharma Poratam
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but only L6,764 cr released