The issue of Special Category Status for Andhra Pradesh, which was almost a forgotten chapter till a few months ago, is all set to heat up the politics in the state once again, triggering a war of one-upmanship between the ruling Telugu Desam Party and the main opposition YSR Congress party.
The TDP, which is getting prepared to cut off ties with the Bharatiya Janata Party sooner or later, is planning to rake up the special category issue on the pretext that the Centre has not been releasing enough funds to the state as promised in the special financial package last year.
Party president and Andhra Pradesh chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu is learnt to have asked his party MPs to raise the issue in Parliament and question the Centre for failing to fulfil its promise of special package.
They would ask the Centre to consider granting the special financial package, which was extended to the hill states for another term of 10 years, to Andhra Pradesh as well.
Apparently realising that the TDP might gain an upper hand on the SCS issue, YSRC president Y S Jaganmohan Reddy is learnt to have asked his party MPs to take up the issue first and stall the Parliament.
As a master stroke, the party MPs would submit their resignations to Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan instantly to bring pressure on the Centre for granting special category status.
Then, the YSRC will corner the TDP leadership, demanding that it should ask its MPs, too, to resign from their Parliament membership besides pulling out of the NDA, if it is so sincere about achieving special category status to AP.
This will definitely land Naidu in deep soup, say observers.
