Former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Tuesday said he expected his successor, Narendra Modi, to honour the commitment that he had made to Andhra Pradesh when he was in office. Singh was speaking about the Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Act in the Rajya Sabha.
The Congress leader said the previous United Progressive Alliance government’s commitment to Andhra Pradesh had been discussed with Arun Jaitley, who was leader of the Opposition at the time, and other Bharatiya Janata Party leaders.
“On February 20, 2014, I made a solemn commitment as prime minister,” Singh told the House. “I quote, ‘for purposes of central assistance, special category status will be extended to the state of Andhra Pradesh. This had been decided in view of the fact that revenues collected in Hyderabad will be accrued to the new state of Telangana’.”
He further said: “Government is a continued entity. I expected my distinguished successor to fulfil the commitment I had made after consultation with his own colleagues.”
Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh said that the Centre will fulfil all commitments made by the former prime minister and the current prime minister. However, he claimed that the Centre was providing more assistance to Andhra Pradesh than what it would have got through special category status, PTI reported. Singh added that the government had already fulfilled 90% of the promises made under the Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Act, 2014.
When Leader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha Ghulam Nabi Azad asked Singh to give a categorical reply on granting special status to the state, the home minister said: “Why are you just stuck at special category status?...The idea behind special category status is that the state should get assistance. We are giving more assistance than that.”
Singh said Andhra Pradesh was entitled to get over Rs 22,000 crore as revenue deficit grant in five years ending 2019-’20. He claimed that there was a conflict between Manmohan Singh’s promise of special category status and the 14th Finance Commission report, which did not make any distinction between a special category state and other states.
TDP MPs protest in Parliament
Earlier on Tuesday, Telugu Desam Party MPs protested in Parliament demanding special category status for Andhra Pradesh. The Telugu Desam Party and other Opposition parties had moved a no-confidence motion against the Centre seeking special status for Andhra Pradesh. The government had won the motion 325-126.
On July 21, Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu claimed Modi was being arrogant. Naidu said that Singh had given assurances about a special status for Andhra Pradesh after the state was bifurcated in 2014 to create Telangana. 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.
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