Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu on Saturday said the no-confidence motion moved against the Centre the day before by his Telugu Desam Party was a matter of “majority vs morality”. The government won the motion 325-126.
Naidu said Prime Minsiter Narendra Modi showed arrogance when he spoke in the Lok Sabha. “His [Modi’s] arrogance was because he had the numbers,” Naidu told reporters at a press conference in Delhi. “After 15 years, first time a no-confidence motion was moved by Opposition parties. We knew they have majority, the motion was majority vs morality.”
Naidu claimed that former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had given assurances about a special status for Andhra Pradesh after the state was bifurcated in 2014 to create Telangana. Narendra Modi, then a prime ministerial candidate, had also promised to fulfil all the promises made in the Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Act in letter and spirit in designated time, the chief minister added.
“Eighteen assurances given to Andhra Pradesh in Reorganisation Act, 2014, have been broken,” Naidu alleged. “The prime minister is stating false issues to justify the injustice done to us. Truth is that neither the constitution nor Finance Commission have issues with granting Special Category Status to Andhra Pradesh.”
Naidu said the Telugu Desam Party joined the National Democratic Alliance before the 2014 General Elections as he believed the state needed a national party’s support. “We joined the Central government only because Andhra Pradesh has been denied justice,” he claimed. “I came to Delhi 29 times to request everybody [for special status for Andhra Pradesh].”
Though the state has done well to develop despite the constraints, the state’s per capita income is nearly Rs 32,000 less than other states in the south, Naidu said. “Whose responsibility is this?” he asked. “People did not commit any mistake. They are hard-working people. Because of bifurcation, we lost everything.”
Addressing reporters late on Friday night after the motion was rejected, the chief minister said his state had suffered heavily in the last four years following the bifurcation. “Five crore people of Andhra Pradesh hoped there will be repentance [on part of the Centre], and that it will correct its mistakes. But the hopes were dashed.”
The Telugu Desam Party chief said Modi had mocked the people of his state and “indulged in cheap talk”.
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