Congressional Labor President N. Thulasi Reddy said Friday that Special Category Status (SCS) is a panacea for all problems burdening the state.
In a statement, he said that only Congress could achieve SCS for the state, which is why the party must win the by-elections in Tirupati Lok Sabha.
He said the BJP had promised in its election manifesto to implement SCS for Andhra Pradesh for 10 years if it came to power. Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who gave his word to the people of the state during his election meeting in Tirupati, renounced it and cited the 14th Finance Commission as an excuse. The chairman of Congress said that even during the recent elections in Puducherry, the BJP promised to grant that state special category status if the party were elected to power. The party has resorted to “policies of opportunism,” said Thulasi Reddy, adding that a BJP win in Tirupati polls would mean SCS’s refusal to AP
He said the past seven years had proven that regional parties like the TDP or the YSR congressional party were unable to bring SCS into the state. It is therefore historically necessary for Congress to win the Tirupati by-elections, he said.