Why Chandrababu Naidu is Treading Lightly for Andhra's Special Category Status

TDP chief Nara Chandrababu Naidu took oath as the chief minister of Andhra Pradesh on Wednesday, 12 June.

(Photo: PTI)

While Nitish Kumar is making the right kind of noise by publicly demanding Special Category Status for Bihar, his Andhra Pradesh counterpart Chandrababu Naidu is showing remarkable patience in voicing the same. The Janata Dal (United) has raised its voice on Agniveer, paper leaks, price rise and unemployment, while the Telugu Desam Party is silent on such concerns.

Even Chirag Paswan, leader of the Lok Janshakti party (Ram Vilas), has joined the chorus. On the other hand, Jana Sena Party chief Pawan Kalyan is maintaining eerie silence on the issue. So, what is the difference between the politics of Andhra Pradesh and Bihar that marks this contrast?

Interestingly enough, both Chandrababu Naidu and Pawan Kalyan were vocal protagonists of Special Category Status (SCS) for the beleaguered state of Andhra Pradesh. In fact, the Naidu-led TDP pulled out of the Modi-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government at the centre before the 2019 elections, protesting the denial of SCS to his state.

Both the TDP and the YSR Congress (led by YS Jagan Mohan Reddy) moved a no-confidence motion against the Narendra Modi government on the SCS issue. Such was the acrimony over the vexed issue prior to the 2019 elections. But it was thrown into oblivion by the major parties of Andhra after Modi was re-elected to power. Now, with a weakened mandate for the BJP and NDA in the 2024 elections, the issue has been resurrected.

Speaking to the national media immediately after the historic verdict, Nara Lokesh, son of Chandrababu Naidu and an influential minister in the party and the cabinet, flagged several issues including the Special Category Status. It can't be that Naidu is not concerned about it but he is exhibiting a rather cautious approach. Why?

The NDA government has maintained time and again that Andhra Pradesh cannot be granted such a status subsequent to the recommendations of the 14th Finance Commission and the abolition of the Planning Commission. But, the 14th Finance Commission has not made any such Andhra Pradesh-specific recommendation on this question.

The only thing that the Commission has said is that the concept of SCS became redundant after it put forth a new dispensation for the allocation of central resources to the states.

I argue that the central government is obligated to grant special category status to Andhra Pradesh irrespective of the demands made by Bihar. The coupling of the demands of the two states is nothing but a travesty of justice to the state of Andhra Pradesh. A cursory look at the recent history reveals this beyond any doubt.

Why Andhra Pradesh is Owed Special Category Status

Unlike in the case of Uttarakhand, Jharkhand, and Chhattisgarh, the united state of Andhra Pradesh was bifurcated to carve out a new state of Telangana against the wishes of the people of the Seemandhra region that now constitute the residuary state of Andhra Pradesh.

When the bifurcation bill came to Rajya Sabha, several members, especially BJP stalwarts like M Venkaiah Naidu and Arun Jaitley vehemently demanded a Special Category Status to the residuary state of Andhra Pradesh to assuage the hurt feelings of the people of this region. The residuary state of Andhra Pradesh lost the vibrant city of Hyderabad which was built with the sweat and blood of people of all regions for decades when it was the capital of united Andhra.

The then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh made an explicit guarantee to this effect on the floor of the upper House as an amendment to the bifurcation act was not possible due to the imminent dissolution of Lok Sabha.

Therefore, it was a considered political consensus to grant Special Category Status to Andhra Pradesh though it did not technically feature in the act. Denying such status now on the pretext of it not being part of the act is unbecoming of parliamentary values and commitments that had a bipartisan consensus.

Therefore, the very bifurcation of the state is predicated upon the promise of Special Category Status. Any subsequent recommendation cannot and should not overrule the parliamentary assurance by a person no less than the Prime Minister of India.

The shunning of these historical facts to suit present-day political interests is unacceptable. No such historical backdrop exists for the demand for SCS in Bihar. Andhra Pradesh has a progressive economic record and any fiscal support would contribute to the realisation of the dream of a five trillion dollar economy, as asserted by Nara Lokesh.

Yet, the ruling political establishment of Andhra Pradesh is not as vocal as the Bihar leadership. Perhaps, this is because Chandrababu Naidu has had a bitter experience in the past. Despite his intense campaign on SCS and a vitriolic attack on the Modi dispensation for denying it, the TDP lost the 2019 polls. Thus, Naidu seems to be treading a cautious path and is not ready to put up any belligerent posturing, that too so soon after the verdict. He is, perhaps, planning a more diplomatic course of action to get the maximum for his state.

What is Naidu Thinking?

Notwithstanding the assessment that Modi is desperately dependent on the support from Chandrababu Naidu to remain in power, the TDP supremo is doubly sure that he is not going to benefit politically by upsetting the apple cart.

Unlike the JD (U) chief, Naidu enjoys the luxury of an intransigent Opposition. The Jagan-led YSR Congress has already extended unconditional support to the NDA government despite the presence of his arch-rival in the ruling coalition. Though the YSR Congress calls it issue-based support, everyone knows Jagan's political compulsions in taking such a stand (he faces several corruption cases and the central agencies are already after him).

Therefore, Jagan is certainly unlikely to make any noise on the issue to embarrass Naidu. On the contrary, Nitish faces formidable opposition from the INDIA bloc that is all set to put him in the dock if falters on Special Category Status. Bihar will have elections next year while Naidu is in no such hurry.

Not just Special Category Status, as articulated by Nara Lokesh in his interviews with the national media, the Naidu regime has several issues for which it needs the central government's assistance, like the greenfield capital of Amaravati, completing the national project of Polavaram on the Godavari river, the privatisation of Visakhapatnam Steel Plant, and industrial incentives crucial to deliver the promise of 20 lakh jobs.

After all, the NDA manifesto for Andhra Pradesh, which the BJP has not enthusiastically owned, stated that the ambitious welfare agenda would be implemented with generous fiscal support from the central government with the formation of a double-engine sarkar.

(Prof K Nageshwar is a senior political analyst, faculty member of Osmania University, and a former MLC. This is an opinion piece and the views expressed are the author’s own. The Quint neither endorses nor is responsible for them.)