When they were in the Congress party, they used to go hammer and tongs at Telugu Desam Party president and present Andhra Pradesh chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu. Now, they are in the Bharatiya Janata Party, they are forced to protect him, though they still hate him to the core.
They are none other than former union minister Daggubati Purandheshwari and former state minister Kanna Lakshmi Narayana.
On Wednesday, they made all efforts to avoid embarrassment to Naidu, saying that the Centre would come to the rescue of the state with a special package that would be much more than what the state would get if it was given special status.
Purandeshwari said as per the 14th finance commission report, there is no possibility of giving special status to any state. As such, the Centre would support Andhra Pradesh in all respects.
“Awarding special category status is not possible due to the report by 14th Finance Commission. Though technically word special status would not be mentioned, the Centre will extend help and support Andhra Pradesh. I am just waiting for the announcement from Finance Minister Arun Jaitley. Railway Zone for AP is almost confirmed,” she said.
Kanna, too, said the NDA government would not do any injustice to Andhra Pradesh.
“It will not stop with just a special package, but it’ll stand by its assurance of implementing all the provisions in the AP Reorganisation Act,” he said.
