Special Category Status for Andhra Pradesh as soon as Congress comes to power: Jairam Ramesh

Jairam Ramesh said that Rahul Gandhi and Sonia Gandhi will occupy a special place in Congress after the new president is elected

Rahul Gandhi and Sonia Gandhi will occupy a special place in the Indian National Congress after the new AICC president is elected on Wednesday evening, said Congress Rajya Sabha member Jairam Ramesh here on Tuesday.

Asked at a press conference here if both the Gandhis will relinquish their organisational posts, Mr. Jairam Ramesh said that it will be up to the new president to decide if he wishes to give any organisational position to them and that is the beauty of democracy. “The charm the Gandhi family has in the country and within the Congress party will never die and they will continue to inspire the Congress leaders and family members,” he added.

The Congress government will give special category status to Andhra Pradesh as soon as it comes to power in 2024, said Mr. Ramesh blaming the Bharatiya Janata Party for cheating the people of the State after giving them assurance in Parliament on February 20, 2014. “M. Venkaiah Naidu had promised to extend the SCS to 10 years after the then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh announced the status for 5 years, but even after being in power for 8 years, the BJP has not fulfilled its promise,” he pointed out.

He blamed the Regional parties of match-fixing with the BJP at the Centre, which was harming the interests of the States, and one such one was the non-completion of Polavaram project on time despite the project being part of the AP Reorganisation Act. 

The BJP and RSS are continuously dividing the country in the name of caste, religion, food, and dress and creating an atmosphere of fear, he alleged and said that the Bharat Jodo Yatra was a counter to that so that people of India get an assurance that there was someone with them and that they can remain united. 

Congress leaders Digvijay Singh, APCC president Sake Sailajanath, working president N. Tulasi Reddy, KVP Ramachandra Rao, Kolunakonda Sivaji, Chinta Mohan, J.D. Seelam, former MP G.V. Harsha Kumar, were present at the press conference.