Whose enthusiasm was it that had helped in the bifurcation of the combined state? A bill on formation of separate state was passed in Lok Sabha. A bill which was passed unanimously with the acceptance of Sushma Swaraj, BJP leader and the then leader of opposition in the Lok Sabha, presented on the table of Rajya Sabha for its approval. In that particular bill there was no mention of the issue of special status. Venkaiah Naidu has responded immediately and objected to the bill and brought pressure to include the issue of special status in that particular bill. By that time Lok Sabha was adjourned and it could not meet again immediately. If that particular bill is not approved in the Rajya Sabha, that bill would become outdated. Elections were due. The process again has to start in the new Parliament. The agreed political policy will be mired, thus initiating a spiral of an unavoidable political crisis. In that particular period the then Congress government and Venkaiah Naidu have played a vital role. A compromise formula was concocted by them in order to come out of the crisis. According to that formula, the then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has to address the issue of Special Status to AP, and that is to be considered as commitment of the union cabinet and start the process for granting special status. On the basis of this compromise formula, the then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh while addressing the House had assured that, special status will be granted to AP for a period of five years. In the same Rajya Sabha session, Venkaiah Naidu intervened and had said that period of five years is not enough for the development of industries and construction of new capital city and such other issues. Hence Venkaiah Naidu has agitated for the special status for the period of ten years and he was most enthusiastic on this issue. Apart from this, he emphasized that the future government is theirs, and they will definitely grant special status for AP.

NDA government under the leadership of BJP was formed as they had expected. Venkaiah Naidu is playing a key role in the present Union Cabinet. He has toured all districts of AP state after the formation of their government as Union Minister and was felicitated in every district. Life size flexes, and cutouts, were displayed, wall posters are pasted, special colorful souvenirs were also printed in huge numbers and distributed free. In this publicity material, he had declared that he is determined to achieve special status to AP state for the period of ten years. Is this really enthusiasm or sheer opportunism? He has to explain this. The Planning Commission was abolished and NITI Aayog was constituted in its place. Planning Commission was invested with statutory powers and required transparency of the states and center, to facilitate its functioning. NITI Aayog is deprived of these powers and is reduced to the status of a consultative body, bereft of any real authority and legitimacy. The decision of the NDA government in this regard is very much intentional, with an eye of future developments. It has abolished planning commission and converted it into NITI Aayog which is just like Goat's body part which is neither useful to its body nor useful to people for eating. With total disregard to the spirit of federalism, the present dispensation at the center intends to keep the states under its tutelage, bereft of any real power of their own. And Andhra Pradesh is the first causality in this nefarious experiment. As long as TDP meekly toes its line, they will throw some dog biscuits, but once it starts barking, the BJP government will hide no bones to starve their puppet.

Chandrababu might have played the role of a kingmaker, in the days of Vajpayee government, but it is amply clear who is calling the shots in the Modi dispensation. The present BJP government believes more in bullying than in allowing a consensus to emerge, in the tackling of national problems. As it is, the center is threatening those states that enjoy special status, that they will most likely withdraw such a provision, after their time limit is over. Hence special status will not be given to AP also. This is highly misleading as political expediency comes in the way of such drastic decisions.

They are hiding behind the pretext that other states are not agreeing for the grant of Special Status to AP. Did not the governments, that of UPA previously and now NDA face a lot of hurdles and road blocks on issues such as Nuclear Pact, FDI and GST? Modi himself was all praise for Venkaiah Naidu for having seen the GST bill through successfully. Had Venkaiah Naidu invested a fraction of those efforts to his promise of Special Status, the situation of the people as well as that of the ruling parties in A.P and at the Center would have been in better light. Instead, the Naidu duo is singing a new lullaby, 'What is the use of special status? As the Center is going to allot special package worth 2.2 lakh crore rupees, and that it is more beneficial than the Special Status. And that this kind of help is going to continue in future also. We will be helping AP continuously.” They claim that they are giving big water melon instead of chocolate to a crying child. No one is naïve enough to understand what a budget allotment actually amounts to. Is the actual expenditure really matching budget allotments? Are they spending according to allotments? It has become a nasty habit for Chandrababu Naidu to repeatedly sing praises and dance to the tune of Center by surrendering his own party’s autonomy, just to get funds that are due to the state.

The people of Andhra Pradesh should not forget that it is the leaders of BJP and Congress, who had raised hopes of Special Status, after the despair of unfair division of the Telugu people. And it is the Naidu duo who have been using this issue to cover the failures of thirty months of their misrule at the Centre and in the state. And now, Chandrababu Naidu changes tune and claims that Special Status is not a 'Jeevaamrutham' (sacred drink which gods used to drink), without which the state’s economy is not going to collapse if Special Status is not given. True, Special status is not going to solve all the problems faced by the state, but at least it will give a much needed headway. This unwarranted attack on people agitating for what is their right and is their due is only a vain attempt at covering up their own failure to get the Special Status. Because you are in the limelight, you think it is your birth right to spread canards against the people leading the agitation for Special Status? Anyone who is critical of the Naidu Duo, I prefer to call them “Tweedeldum and Tweedeldee”, are branded as anti-nationals and reactionaries? If that is the case, be kind enough to educate us on what constitutes nationalism and who can qualify as a progressive, by your own scale – that will be a great revelation for the people.

The real reason for the intentional denial of Special Status is that it is followed by a clause of legal status, putting more power in the hands of the party ruling the state. It is the fear of BJP that with such freedom at their disposal, the TDP will no longer be toeing their line and attends to the whims and fancies of the ruling dispensation at the Center. With the BJP, under the tutelage of the Sangh Parivar fast losing its credibility and in the coming days, any bond with BJP may prove to be a noose round the neck of Chandrababu and his party. More and more people all over the country are getting disillusioned with the so called “charishma” of Modi, with the artificial façade built around him collapsing, and there is doubt as to why the BJP will not go the way of the dodo in the 2019 elections. So delaying the Special Status, if not outright denial will allow the BJP to exercise their control over Naidu’s TDP. In this whole stale melodrama staged by the Naidu Duo, it is the Telugu people who are made sacrificial goats. Nothing short of militant battles are the need of the day and we have to expose their nefarious conspiracies. (IPA Service)