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PM Modi and Naidu Lock Horns Over Special Category Status to AP

PM Modi said he had told Naidu not to fall in the YSRC’s trap when he threatened to move out of NDA, but he ignored.

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Prime Minister Narendra Modi in his speech on Friday, 20 July lashed out at the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) on the floor of the Parliament for moving the no-confidence motion and accused the TDP of falling into the YSRC’s trap and raising a hue and cry over special category status, Deccan Chronicle reported.

Modi said he had told Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu not to fall in the YSRC’s trap when he threatened to move out of NDA.

When Chandrababu talked about quitting NDA demanding special category status for Andhra Pradesh, I telephoned him and cautioned him not to fall in the YSRC’s trap. But he did ignored (me). The fight between the TDP and the YSRC is hurting the interests of the people of AP more than anything else.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi
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Amidst the ruckus being created by TDP MPs on the floor, Modi said that during the initial days of bifurcation, he and the union ministers had held meetings to resolve issues between the two states.

“While TRS and TS Chief minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao showed maturity, the TDP always used to complain against the TRS governement and KCR,” he said.

He also lashed out at the Congress for bifurcating Andhra Pradesh by closing doors of the Parliament for their selfish political gains in 2014. The prime minister compared the bifurcation of Andhra Pradesh to form the state of Telangana with the bifurcation of India in 1947.

Instead of Doing Justice to AP, Modi Is Resorting to Political Attack: Naidu

The Modi government defeated the no-confidence motion by a vote of 325 to 126 with his party’s majority in the lower house of parliament.

Expressing his disappointment over the result, Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister and Telugu Desam Party (TDP) Chief N Chandrababu Naidu said, “Entire Andhra Pradesh waited for justice, only to be disappointed again. They have majority but they breached "neeti". The prime minister's speech has caused much pain” reported ANI.

Taking a dig at PM Modi, Naidu further said, “As part of our continuous fight, we introduced this no-confidence motion. In the last four years, I went to Delhi 29 times. Instead of doing justice to AP, he (Modi) is resorting to political attack on me alleging I took U-turn. It is sad to see a man of the stature of PM is talking irresponsibly and cheap.”

Naidu claimed that the state of Andhra Pradesh has been denied justice and since his party does not have the numbers, their demands and needs are not being met.

Naidu Claims Modi Promised Special Category Status To AP Before 2014 Elections

Earlier this year in March, the TDP split from BJP as N Chandrababu Naidu had announced his party's decision to walk out of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government, saying the government failed to discharge its constitutional responsibilities in implementing 'Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Act, 2014', reported Business Standard.

We joined the NDA in the first place only to protect our states interests in the aftermath of bifurcation. We waited for four years with the hope that the Centre will honour all the promises but it only meted out injustice to us.
N Chandrababu Naidu, Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister

He further claimed that the BJP never cared about TDP and while it was in the opposition it promised to take care of the state and its needs but once in power, “it completely ignored us.”

According to Business Standard, Naidu coming down on the Prime Minister said Modi did not even bother to invite the TDP MPs for a discussion when they were agitating in Parliament for the states rights.

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Naidu further said before the 2014 elctions that Narendra Modi, the then Prime Ministerial candidate, in his public meetings in Andhra Pradesh, had emphatically assured the people that he would give special category status as well as help the state build a capital city much better than Delhi.

“We were told that the 14th Finance Commission recommended against granting of SCS to any state. Although this was a contestable interpretation of the Finance Commission's report, we went along with it because we were promised that all facilities and incentives that are enjoyed by SCS states will be extended to us in the form of special assistance, except the nomenclature. Sadly, that was not to be,” he said.

(With inputs from Deccan Chronicle, ANI and Business Standard.)

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