AP minister hits back, blames Naidu for diluting special category status

Hyderabad: Asserting that it was the former chief minister Chandrababu Naidu who diluted the demand for Special Category Status (SCS) by agreeing to a Special Package putting state benefits at stake, Andhra Pradesh minister for Agriculture Kurasala Kannababu said the opposition has no moral right to speak on bifurcation promises.
“The previous TDP government has mortgaged SCS for Andhra Pradesh in exchange for a special package that solely benefitted Naidu and his benamis. The state lost its privileges because of Naidu and the government is now forced to plead for special status,” he remarked at a press conference in Amaravati.
Recalling that CM YS Jagan Mohan Reddy made the YSRCP MPs resign and protest for SCS when he was in the oppostion, Kannababu said that Chandrababu Naidu didn’t take such a step. “Chandrababu had pocketed the announced special package and looted public money,” he alleged.
Speaking on the CID raids on former officials of Skill Development Corporation, minister Kannababu stated that it is the government’s responsibility to unearth the truth and take action against those who committed irregularities.
He said that shell companies were set up to divert hundreds of crores of public money during the TDP regime and criticised them for alleging political vendetta for questioning the wrongdoings. The minister advised the TDP chief to watch former justice Chandru’s video, who hailed the government’s initiatives before trying to defame the government.
Earlier on Saturday, TDP chief N Chandrababu Naidu had demanded that the Andhra CM YS Jaganmohan Reddy should make all his party MPs resign in order to bring pressure on the central government to confer the special status on Andhra Pradesh.