NEW DELHI: A day after the TDP decided to quit the Union Cabinet, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Ananth Kumar today claimed that YSR Congress and other parties were creating “political pressure” with “false propaganda” on the issue of special status to Andhra Pradesh, which may have forced Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu to take such a step.
Yesterday, Naidu, who is the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) chief, announced that Y S Chowdary and Ashok Gajapathi Raju will quit the Union cabinet. He, however, had said the party would continue to be part of NDA.
“The TDP has demanded special status. We are discussing with them….Unfortunately, YSR Congress and other parties are indulging in all sorts of false propaganda, spoiling the political atmosphere in the state and putting pressure on Chandrababu Naidu,” Kumar told reporters.
The YSR Congress is “falsely propagating” that the Centre has not done anything for Andhra Pradesh. Amid this political pressure, Naidu has taken certain decisions, he said, and added, “Otherwise, Naidu and the TDP have always been with the BJP.”
On TDP’s demand of special status, he said, the category of ‘special status’ does not exist after the implementation of 14th Finance Commission. “Still, we gave a special package of Rs 14,500 crore to the state… additional Rs 5,000 crore aid has been given to AP.”
The Modi government is taking care of the interest of Andhra Pradesh people, he added.
The two TDP ministers in the Union Cabinet have not yet offered their resignation as Prime Minister Narendra Modi is out of Delhi.-PTI
