Assembly session: Centre should not have ‘absolute numbers’ if A.P. is to secure Special Category Status, says Chief Minister Jagan Mohan Reddy

Centre should not have ‘absolute numbers’ if A.P. is to secure special category status, says Chief Minister Jagan Mohan Reddy. The State government faced a lot of difficulties due to deprivation of SCS, fall in revenues caused by arbitrary bifurcation of State and COVID-19 pandemic, but did a far better job than the previous TDP dispensation, asserts Jagan Mohan Reddy while replying to a discussion on the ‘Motion of thanks to the Governor’s address to a joint session of the Legislature’, in the Assembly.

Maintaining that gross injustice was done to Andhra Pradesh (A.P.) at the time of bifurcation, Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy said on Tuesday that he was sincerely praying that “no government to be formed at the Centre gets absolute numbers” lest it should ignore the State’s legitimate demands like the Special Category Status (SCS).

A “Central government dependent on the State” would have conceded our demands, Mr. Jagan Mohan Reddy observed, while pointing out that A.P. would have tried to secure the SCS through all possible means, including by approaching the court, had the assurance to give SCS been incorporated in the A.P. Reorganisation Act, 2014.

The State government faced a lot of difficulties due to deprivation of SCS, a significant fall in revenues caused by the arbitrary manner in which the unified State of A.P. was divided, and the COVID-19 pandemic, the issues which the YSR Congress Party (YSRCP) inherited from the TDP government as a legacy, and multiple other reasons. In spite of that, the government did a far better job than the previous dispensation, he asserted.

Replying to a discussion on the ‘Motion of thanks to the Governor’s address to a joint session of the Legislature’, in the Assembly, Mr. Jagan Mohan Reddy dismissed the charge that the State was debt-ridden, by stating that the compounded annual growth rate of liabilities during the TDP regime was 21.87% compared to 12.13% registered in the last five years of the YSRCP term. The YSRCP government rolled out DBT welfare schemes worth ₹2,55,000 crore and non-DBT ones worth ₹1,07,000 crore.

Seeking to dispel the notion that his government neglected development, Mr. Jagan Mohan Reddy said the capital expenditure incurred by the TDP government was about ₹15,228 crore per year on an average compared to ₹17,757 crore per year since 2019.

He stated that a reduction in the devolution of Central funds and reduced tax revenues in the last five years due to several reasons, including the COVID-19 pandemic, made a dent in the State revenues to the tune of ₹66,116 crore between 2019-20 and 2021-22, and it had a cascading effect on the agrarian economy.

Mr. Jagan Mohan Reddy said he was seeking votes on the basis of the party’s development agenda and delivery of welfare schemes, by saying that he had proof of the benefits transferred to the eligible people, which included their Aadhaar numbers and bank account details.