VIJAYAWADA: Senior Congress leader KVP Ramachandra Rao in an open letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday demanded him to visit Andhra Pradesh only after conferring SCS and fulfilling the other promises made to the State such as separate railway zone, special economic package to Rayalaseema and Uttarandhra districts.
In the four-page letter, Rao elaborated that people of AP are well aware of the promises made and how they were not fulfilled in the last five years. “I wish to convey the deep anguish of over five crore people of the State for sheer neglect and utter disregard meted out to them by your government during the last five years, particularly in implementing the provisions of the AP Reorganisation Act, 2014 and assurances given by then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on the floor of the Rajya Sabha,” he wrote.
The Congress leader said people are still recollecting the ‘anguish’ expressed by BJP leaders and their promises to the State in the run-up to the 2014 elections. “The people are witnessing the true colours of BJP and its alliance partners in the last five years. After coming to power, the Centre has denied the rights of AP by citing frivolous and fictitious reasons,” he said.
The NDA government claimed that 14th Finance Commission has taken a stand against according SCS to states, but the chairperson and members of the Commission later clarified that the issue was under the Terms of Reference of the Commission and they had not made any such recommendation. He pointed out that a Separate Railway Zone with Visakhapatnam as headquarters was kept pending in the guise of stakeholders consultation though it was purely an administrative decision to be taken by the Centre.
On Polavaram Project, the Congress leader said people in the State are aware that how the project is being neglected and how it was delayed by entrusting its execution to the State government through the Act mandates that it has to be completed expediently.
Similarly, Special Economic Package to backward Rayalaseema and Uttarandhra districts on the likes of Kalahandi-Bolangir-Koraput was denied and the major port at Dugarajapatnam was kept aside stating it was not viable, he said.