VIJAYAWADA: Whatever happens, the TDP will not exit the NDA, Kambhampati Rammohan Rao, the party’s former Rajya Sabha member, told TNIE in an exclusive conversation when he was asked if the NDA’s marginal win will give the yellow party an advantage to seek Special Category Status for Andhra Pradesh.
“The PM has already congratulated TDP chief N Chandrababu Naidu. We joined the NDA before the elections. Now, the question of the TDP exiting the NDA does not arise. We condemn all media speculations,” he clarified.
The party’s pointsman in New Delhi said, “People had made their decision a long time ago. Naidu means development. Andhra voters expected the YSRC government to do something. But it miserably failed. There was no law and order, no industries, no employment and no development.”
Elaborating on the TDP’s plan after forming government, he said, “Our first task will be to tell people about the financial situation of the State. The YSRC took huge loans and violated the FRBM Act.”
His comments assume significance in the wake of reports that the INDI Alliance is trying to make overtures to Naidu. Replying to a tweet of Modi’s response to the NDA win in AP, Congress senior leader Jairam Ramesh tweeted, “Will you have the courage to demand special category status for Andhra Pradesh as a non-negotiable precondition for support to the NDA at the Centre?”
He said Congress Nyay Patra once again reiterates the promise of Special Category Status (SCS) for AP. Further, he tweeted, “I had raised the issue of Special Category Status in 2017 in Parliament. I also dispelled the Modi Government’s false claims that the 14th Finance Commission recommended the dissolution of the Special Category Status.” His indirect message to Naidu could be that if he joins the INDI Alliance, Andhra Pradesh could get SCS.