Andhra Pradesh Congress Committee (APCC) is gearing up for Prateyka Hoda Bharosa Sabha demanding the implementation of special category status (SCS) for the state as per the Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Act 2014. Congress called for all the parties to unite for protest against NDA to join them at Muslim College at Guntur on 4th June along with Vice-President Rahul Gandhi . The Congress which lost popularity among the people post bifurcation is using SCS as an opportunity to reach out to its electoral in the state.
Congress is clearly gearing up aggressively for the 2019 elections and the process is initiated by the Guntur meeting. APCC which is well aware of the political dynamics, gave a call for all parties on one stage. In this backdrop APCC leader Dr Raghuveera Reddy met leaders during his Delhi tour last month and sought assistance from various parties. SP leader Akhilesh Yadav, CPM leader Sitaram Yechury, JDU leader Sharat Yadav, CPI leaders Suravaram Sudhakar Reddy, D.Raja, DMK, NCP and RJD and 14other party leaders are likely to participate in the rally. Raghuveera Reddy in his open letter invited YSRCP leader Jagan Mohan Reddy and Jana Sena leader Pawan Kalyan who earlier staged protests for SCS in their own way. If the political parties in the state are seriously concerned about SCS, they would unite analogous to the parties that united during Telangana Agitation. The response to this meeting will change the political atmosphere in the state.
On Friday, Chairman of NITI Aayog, Arvind Panagariya said that SCS is a closed issue. AP has been granted special package which has more benefits than SCS and said that no state has SCS now. He quoted that after 14th finance commission the entire funds are directly given to state.
Navyandhra Pradesh which was established with deficit budget was promised special category status by Narendra Modi and Chandrababu Naidu for ten years at Tirupati public address in 2014. But NDA government backtracked on the request and gave special package instead of Special category status. Chief Minister Chandrababu also welcomed the announcement of package by the ally BJP. This has become a boon for the Congress, which literally lost its popularity.
SCS has become a sentiment for the people of state. Congress accusing BJP and TDP for cheating the people is conducting programmes like public ballot and public charge sheets. Not only SCS, they are also demanding special packages to backward areas of Uttarandhra and Rayalaseema immediately as per the provisions of reorganisation act.
