NEW DELHI: In a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the Congress president Sonia Gandhi urged him to implement the commitments made by the previous UPA government to Seemandhra region, which included grant of special category status to the successor state and execution of Polavaram irrigation project.
The Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Act, 2014, by which Telangana was carved out of Andhra Pradesh, she pointed out in her letter to the PM, contains various investment and other commitments which were made by the Central government to Seemandhra region.
The Congress president also promised all cooperation to the Modi government in implementing these commitments.
‘’...The groundwork for many of them, like in the area of water resources, grant of special category status and facilitating the Polavaram project had already been laid by the erstwhile UPA government. I do hope that your administration will build on what we had accomplished and take them forward,’’ Sonia said.
She pointed out that the then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and former home minister Sushil Kumar Shinde had made certain further commitments on the floor of the Upper House on February 20 on the basis of which the Union Cabinet had taken certain decisions.
She also attached a note giving details of the commitments made by Manmohan Singh and Sushil Shinde.
‘’As president of the Indian National Congress whose coalition government drafted the Reorganisation Act and got it passed through parliament, I assure you of our cooperation in ensuring that the commitments made to the people of the successor state of Andhra Pradesh are fulfilled both in letter and spirit,’’ Gandhi added.
Meanwhile Congress on Tuesday termed as ‘very significant’ Sonia Gandhi’s letter to Modi for assistance to Seemandhra, saying the UPA government made many commitments for the residuary state and now it was for the NDA to implement them.
‘’Our commitment is to the people of Andhra Pradesh... constructively to ensure that the promises that we made, which was passed by Parliament. This is what the letter of the Congress president said. It is a very significant letter,” party leader Jairam Ramesh said.
UPA Promises to Residuary AP
■ Granting special category status to the successor state and execution of Polavaramt
■ Compensation to 50,000 families of oustees should be made in a democratic manner
■ Resettlement of the families should be made before the project is commissioned