The Congress Party will grant Andhra Pradesh the promised special category status and honour the commitment given to the people of the State on the floor of the Rajya Sabha at the time of bifurcation of the State by the then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, said Congress president Rahul Gandhi today.
For the first time, he participated in election rallies in the State addressing one here and another at Kalyanadurgam in Anantapur district.
He alleged that the BJP, and the NDA government, in the past five years had not kept the promise on the special category status or for that matter the other provisions of the AP Reorganisation Act, 2014.
Gandhi said, “I am surprised that the parties in Andhra are not pushing Modi as hard as they should to get the special category status. It was not a promise made by the Congress Party alone or one individual, Manmohan Singh. The Prime Minister of the country made the commitment in the Rajya Sabha to the people of Andhra Pradesh and it should be honoured at any cost. We will, if you bless us and vote us to power.” “Only the Congress Party will strive for the all-round development of Andhra Pradesh, as it has in the past, and the BJP will not do anything for the State,” he said.
He alleged that the Prime Minister was acting as the chowkidar only for the likes of Nirav Modi, Vijay Mallya, and Anil Ambani. He is guarding only their interests and the common men and women are suffering severe hardship. Every democratic institution is being subverted and the youngsters are not getting any jobs.
“In the aftermath of demonetisation and the badly implemented GST, the small businesses and industrial units have suffered heavily and the economy was hit badly. Instead of addressing these issues, the Modi government is busy protecting the interests of the rich and influential,” he said. Gandhi said the minorities, SCs and STs had suffered in particular during the past five years and the other sections had also been hit badly.
He said the Nyay scheme would lift five crore families, roughly 25 crore people, above the poverty line, as ₹72,000 a year would be deposited in their accounts.