Jagan Reddy calls Andhra bandh on 24 July over special status

Hyderabad: YSR Congress Party chief Y. S. Jagan Mohan Reddy on Saturday called for a bandh in Andhra Pradesh on 24 July in support of the demand that the state be accorded special category status.

Throwing the ball in the court of the Telugu Desam Party, Reddy asked its MPs to resign so that parliamentarians from both parties could sit on a hunger strike in New Delhi and together demand special category status for the state.

“Not a single person in Parliament talked about special category status. Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who promised Andhra Pradesh this before the 2014 general and state elections, also did not mention it,” Reddy said at a press conference in Kakinada on Saturday morning. He pointed out even Congress president Rahul Gandhi had not mentioned the demand in Parliament during Friday’s debate on the no-confidence motion.

The YSR Congress chief called for all political parties, various organisations and the public to participate in the bandh on 24 July. “The prime minister does not recall the guarantees made to Andhra Pradesh. Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu accepted the special package in place of special category status. Who was he to do that?” Reddy asked and added that Naidu had compromised the state’s interests.

Five YSR Congress MPs had resigned in April in protest against Andhra Pradesh not being accorded special category status. The issue has gained prominence this year with both the Telugu Desam and the YSR Congress insisting on it even after the Centre made it clear that the demand would not be met. In 2016, Naidu had accepted a special assistance package in lieu of special category status for the state.

Matters came to a head after the Telugu Desam in February began blaming the Centre for not fulfilling its promises made to Andhra Pradesh following its bifurcation in 2014. This led to the Telugu Desam walking out of the National Democratic Alliance on 16 March. Earlier in March, two of its MPs had resigned from the Union Cabinet.