With all political parties in Andhra Pradesh now batting for a special category status (SCS) for the State, the BJP is finding itself on a sticky wicket.

The status was promised by former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in the Rajya Sabha during the State’s bifurcation in 2014

Protests have intensified inside and outside Parliament in New Delhi by both the ruling Telugu Desam Party and the Opposition YSR Congress Party. The Congress and the Left have also joined the chorus.

On Tuesday, Congress president Rahul Gandhi said if the party emerges victorious in 2019, the first thing he would do is grant special category status to AP. He was participating in a protest organised by the Congress demanding SCS for the State. The Left parties also joined the event.

Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu did some plain-speaking on the issue in the State Assembly on Tuesday. He bluntly told a BJP member that the party members should not hurt the sentiments of the people.

“Grave injustice was done to the people of the State at the time of bifurcation. Special category status was promised and many provisions were included in the AP Reorganisation Act to compensate for the losses AP had suffered due to unscientific bifurcation. All those provisions should be implemented in letter and spirit. The BJP leaders should take up the issue in New Delhi,” he said.

Naidu asserted he won’t compromise on the interests of the State. He said he had agreed to the special package offered in lieu of the promised SCS only as the Centre had stated it was not in a position to grant SCS due to technical reasons, but equivalent benefits would be given. But the the TDP has revived the demand for SCS as the promise has not been kept.

The YSR Congress on the other hand is gunning for the TDP, alleging that the situation would not have arisen had the ruling party remained firm in the first place.

Meanwhile, some TDP and BJP leaders are openly engaged in a war of words, accusing each other of “betraying the coalition dharma .”

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