It looks like the Opposition parties do not want to give up the demand for special category status to Andhra Pradesh, thereby mounting pressure on Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu.
This is despite the fact that the Centre has categorically ruled out several times that there is no possibility of giving special status to any State, not just Andhra Pradesh.
On Friday, the Andhra Pradesh Congress Committee (APCC) demanded that Chandrababu Naidu lead an all-party delegation to New Delhi to mount pressure on the Centre to concede the separate category status to the State.
In an open letter to the Chief Minister released to the media here, APCC president N Raghuveera Reddy said that the time is ripe now to lead the delegation to the national capital as Parliament is in session.
The Congress chief even offered to bear the expenses of his party leaders, who will form the team, in order to avoid the financial burden on the exchequer.
"Our party leaders will bear their own expenses if the State Government is ready to lead the team to Delhi," he said in the letter.
Stating that the BJP had promised in its election manifesto that if it comes to power the status will be accorded to the State for 10 years, he said that none other than the Prime Minister himself had assured the people of Andhra Pradesh the same at the time of the election.
Though the Congress and the people's associations have been agitating for the fulfillment of this, there is no progress made in this regard, he stated.
