Hyderabad: Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu is gearing up to again rake up the Centre failure at fulfilling its promises, including that of the Special Category Status and provisions of AP Reorganisation Act, at the upcoming NITI Aayog meeting on June 17 in New Delhi.
Interestingly, this would be the first time Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chandrababu Naidu will come face to face after Telugu Desam Party (TDP) decided to severe ties with the BJP-led NDA alliance at the Centre and state. The split was largely due to Centre’s refusal to the ‘Special Status’ demand of Andhra Pradesh.
Ahead of the meeting, Chandrababu Naidu said, “Despite Centre’s non-cooperation, our state was able to grow at the rate of 10.5% in the last four years and that was only because of the consistent efforts of the people and the government. Isn’t it the Centre’s responsibility to handhold Andhra Pradesh until our state gets on par with neighbouring states in terms of per capita income? Where is the spirit of Team India?”
Not just issues specific to his state, Chandrababu Naidu added that he would raise national issues as well.
“I will highlight the issues faced by farmers, traders and daily labour due to the prevailing cash crunch in ATMs; insecurity among SC, ST and minorities; unemployment; problems in crop insurance scheme; Minimum Support Prices to farmers and doubling of farmers’ income.”
After TDP cut off ties with the BJP, the political battle between the two has only worsened. Ever since their break up, Chandrababu Naidu has been blatantly hitting out at central government policies.
In May, Naidu even hosted a meeting in Amaravati with finance ministers of various states who share a common ideology on fiscal federalism. The group discussed the concerns and impacts of the Terms of Reference of the 15th Finance Commission.
Several non-BJP states that participated in the meeting accused the Centre of dictatorial attitude and not obeying federal spirit and suppressing progressive states that are maintaining fiscal discipline.
Chandrababu Naidu is also seen as a tall leader of the emerging united opposition ahead of the 2019 Lok Sabha elections. He was also present at the oath-taking ceremony of HD Kumaraswamy in Karnataka, a major show of unity and strength by regional parties from across states.
The TDP chief has also indicated that regional political parties are going to be a power to reckon with in the 2019 elections as an alternative to the national parties.
In April, Chandrababu Naidu visited Delhi to gather the support of all political parties for his fight against the Centre on Special Category Status.
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