The Communist Party of India (Marxist) has expressed its dismay at Prime Minister Narendra Modi not announcing the Special Category Status for Andhra Pradesh at the Bhimavaram public meeting on Monday and for not doing anything worthwhile for the State after the bifurcation in 2014.
Participating in the padayatra and ‘jeep yatra’ of the party in Anantapur on Monday, Mr. Srinivasa Rao said people of the State were left disheartened by Prime Minister Narendra Modi as they were expecting him to make a big announcement. “If the Prime Minister does not announce Special Category Status (SCS), the BJP cannot dream of winning even a single Assembly seat in the State,” the CPI(M) leader said.
“We will launch an agitation for getting SCS as the YSRCP and TDP are doing nothing in this direction despite their tall promises to the voters in the 2014 and 2019 elections,” Mr. Srinivasa Rao said. The two parties will be taught a lesson in the next elections if they fail to get enough funds for development in the State, and will meet the same fate as the BJP, he said.
The CPI(M) leader questioned why the two major political parties in the State were keeping mum when there was a severe financial crisis in the State. “Prime Minister Modi had promised special funding for backward regions, completion of the Polavaram project and establishment of Central institutions. However, nothing has materialised so far, but still Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy and Leader of Opposition N. Chandrababu Naidu never bring this up,” he alleged.
Meanwhile, a group of 250 persons from Illuru village in Garladinne mandal walked 40 km to the Anantapur Collectorate protesting the alleged encroachment of nearly 800 acres of forest land by influential people.
The party submitted a memorandum to the Collector seeking input subsidy for groundnut farmers in 25 mandals of undivided Anantapur district as they had reportedly not received crop insurance compensation.
