A day after he spearheaded the landslide victory in Andhra Pradesh polls, TDP chief Chandrababu Naidu on Wednesday reached Delhi to take part in the crucial NDA meeting. In this regard he has dismissed rumours that he is switching sides towards the INDIA block, but is likely to put key demands in return for his support to the Modi government.
During Vajpayee government also, he never insisted on sharming cabinet positions or some nomination posts, but mostly focused on centre’s help to the development of the state. This time also, as he is taking charge of the government after massive destruction by YS Jaganmohan Reddy in all fields, he is expecting liberal assistance from the center.
In this regard, according to sources, he is planning to insist mainly on two issues before Prime Minister Narendra Modi. On these two issues only in 2018 he had walked out of the NDA. They are Special Category Status for Andhra Pradesh and speed up CBI and ED cases against YS Jaganmohan Reddy.
Recently after returning to NDA also he reiterated that he had never had any differences with the Narendra Modi government, except on the issue of Special Category Status. WIth regard to cases against Jaganmohan Reddy, which are being dragged in special court without beginning of trial for 12 years, TDP leadership is of the view Modi government has been shielding him.
TDP leadership was furious earlier also that by continuing alliance with TDP, the BJP top leadership maintains cordial relations with Jaganmohan Reddy shielding him from corruption cases. Already CBI filed an affidavit in the Supreme Court suggesting creation of a special court to deal with cases against Jaganmohan Reddy for speedy disposal.
The SCS will ensure the state gets more Central funds, higher grants-in-aid to the state government and industrial incentives like income tax exemption, custom duty waivers, GST concessions among others. However, this demand will be a delicate one for the Modi government as Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar is also insisting for such a status for a long time.
Moreover, Chandrababu Naidu’s focus now will be speedy completion of Amaravati capital infrastructure, for which he may need liberal assistance from the Cenere.
Another demand that Naidu is likely to put forward is funds for the completion of the long-pending Polavaram project, a promise TDP leaders said he has made during campaigning in the run-up to the elections. The project was practically shelved during the YCP regime and TDP was keen to complete it during the next two years.
