Nara Chandrababu Naidu continued to express in clear words his disappointment with the BJP government at the Centre for the “injustice” meted out to his state.
On Saturday, 17 February, the Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister again fired a barb at the alliance partner in the Centre and the State claiming that “justice has not been done” in Union Budget 2018 just like it was not done in 2017.
Speaking at a public event in Guntur, Naidu said that he wanted justice for the people of his state from Prime Minister Narendra Modi and other ministers.
According to reports, Naidu said that he is willing to debate on the allocations received by other states and Andhra Pradesh.
“I’m ready for any sacrifices for justice to Telugus,” the CM was quoted as saying by the media.
“Our alliance with the BJP was to ensure justice to our state. I met several people during my visits to New Delhi. Justice is yet to be served,” he said.
Naidu-led Telugu Desam Party (TDP) has been raising the demand for the implementation of key projects and allocations under the Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Act (APRA) as promised by the BJP government.
The Act was introduced to help Andhra Pradesh after it was bifurcated to form Telangana. Since most of the institutions of governance went to Telanagana, Andhra started with an economic disadvantage. This fact was also acknowledged by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley when he gave a speech to address the concerns of dissenting leaders of TDP in the Parliament on 8 February.
Opposition parties successfully called for a state-wide shutdown on 8 February. Even the TDP had joined the call staging sit-ins at many places in the state.
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A day later, Naidu had urged TDP lawmakers in the Parliament and the Legislative Assembly to continue putting the pressure on the BJP government. Though he has said that the alliance will not be broken till 2019, Naidu warned on Friday, 16 February, in the secretariat in Amaravati that “harsh decisions” might be taken if the people feel “cheated”.
TDP leaders as well as Opposition leaders in the state have been protesting against the Union Budget 2018 since 1 February for ignoring the state.
Read More: ‘Disappointed’ Naidu calls meet on TDP-BJP alliance after Budget 2018
According to TDP leaders and other party leaders of Andhra Pradesh, issues such as the construction of a Railway Zone, the Polavaram project funding and funding for capital city of Amaravati were not addressed in the Budget.
Jaitley had in his speech said that the Centre has been and will continue to finance the projects implemented under the Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Act.
Read More: Jaitley addresses concerns of Andhra leaders over ‘injustice’
“Some of them are work-in-progress,” Jaitley had told the House.
But referring to the funds provided by the Centre to Andhra Pradesh, TDP MP Jay Galla had quipped that even the collections made by ‘Baahubali’ – Rs 1,700 crore – were more than what the state received from the Centre.