VIJAYAWADA: Congress president Rahul Gandhi once again made it clear that the first thing his party will do once it comes to power in 2019 is to grant special category status to the State, a commitment made during bifurcation of Andhra Pradesh.
Addressing a well-attended public meeting in Kurnool on Tuesday during his maiden visit to the State after taking over as Congress president, Rahul Gandhi recalled the services of great leaders of the party hailing from the region and paid tributes to Damodaram Sanjeevaiah, the first Dalit Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh. He also remembered former Chief Minister Kotla Vijaya Bhaskar Reddy, former President Neelam Sanjiva Reddy and former Prime Minister PV Narasimha Rao, who represented the Nandyal Lok Sabha constituency when he was Prime Minister.
“I am sharing their stories with you to tell you that I am also proud of them like you and I am confident that, in future, the Congress will produce such leaders from the region.” Rahul Gandhi alleged that Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his government betrayed the people of Andhra Pradesh by failing to keep their promises.
“The then Prime Minister made a commitment to people of Andhra Pradesh of giving special category status for five years. The present Prime Minister and his party said it was not enough and the State should be given special category for 10 years. Since Narendra Modi became Prime Minister, it has been four years and he has not taken one step forward to fulfil the commitment that Government of India made to the State,” he said.
The Congress president listed commitments made to the State including national status for Polavaram, steel factory in Kadapa, new railway zone, international airport, metro rail and highways for capital, 12 national educational institutions like IIT and IIM.
“The fact of the matter is these are not empty words, but a commitment to the people of Andhra Pradesh from the Government of India. All the promises made to people of the State were broken by Narendra Modi. He does not understand that the promises to AP were made by the Prime Minister of India and that he is bound by them. When Narendra Modi does not give the State what is its due, he disrespects people of AP and its leaders,” Rahul said.
The Congress chief reiterated that he will abide by the commitment and said it should not be treated as a gift from the Government of India, but a debt that is owed by the Prime Minister to the State. “A Prime Minister cannot make a promise to a State in the country and break it,” he said and added, “I am not in the habit of making false promises. I am not going to come here like Mr Modi and lie to you. But I will tell you one thing that the moment the Congress comes to power in Delhi in 2019, it is our commitment to the people of AP, we respect them, the first thing we will do is we will give special status.”
Interestingly, during Gandhi’s speech no mention was made of either the TDP government or Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu. Earlier, he visited the ancestral house of former Chief Minister of AP Damodaram Sanjeevaiah at Pedapadu village and offered floral tributes. He also interacted with family members of Sanjeevaiah. Later, he paid a visit to the samadhi of another former CM Kotla Vijaya Bhaskar Reddy and paid homage.
“When some people told the then Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru, who wanted to make Sanjeevaiah CM of AP, that he was dishonest and corrupt, Nehru sent a senior leader. When that leader visited Sanjeevaiah’s village, they saw an old woman cooking food outside a small house and learnt that it was Sanjeevaiah’s house and the woman was his mother. They returned and told Nehru that there was no way of Sanjeevaiah was dishonest and corrupt. Later, he was appointed the CM,” Rahul said.