There is no need for any apprehensions or misgivings over the promised special category status to Andhra Pradesh, Union Urban Development and Parliamentary Affairs Minister M Venkaiah Naidu said here.

There is also no need for lending credence to the statements made by the Vice-Chairman and other members of the Planning Commission, who have resigned along with the outgoing Government, he told reporters at a function organised to felicitate him. He was here on a one-day visit.

He said too much should not be read into the statement of the Planning Commission that AP does not qualify for special category status. The statement was part of the regular briefing given to the new Minister by the consultants in the Commission and did not have any official status, he added.

The new Government is committed to according special category status to Andhra Pradesh and it would be for 10 years, as five years would only be sufficient for drawing up projects and laying the foundation stone for them, he said. A 10-year tax holiday would also be given for new investments in the State.

The Minister also pointed out that when the consultations were on about the AP Reorganisation Bill, he had taken up the issue with then Planning Commission Vice-Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia. He was assured that since the Prime Minister was the Chairman of the Planning Commission his statement was the official stand.

However, it would have to be ratified by the National Development Council comprising the PM and CMs of all the States.

Easily approved

With more than half the States being under the BJP and the Congress it would easily be approved by the NDC, Ahluwalia had told him, the Union Minister explained.

He said the BJP Government is committed to the development of both Telangana and Andhra Pradesh and would not take any steps that would adversely affect either State. Pointing out that the Polavaram project is the lifeline of Andhra Pradesh and the BJP Government is committed to complete it, Naidu dismissed statements against the Ordinance as politically motivated.

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