YSRCP president and state Opposition leader YS Jaganmohan Reddy on Saturday called for a statewide bandh in Andhra Pradesh on July 24, to protest the attitude of various political parties towards the Special Status issue, during the no-confidence motion that took place in the Lok Sabha.
Addressing a press meet in Kakinada, he lashed out at Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu and accused him of hurting the sentiments of the entire state’s population by failing to secure Special Category Status (SCS).
"Naidu and the central government colluded and denied the people of Andhra their rights. Who is the Chief Minister to say that a 'special package' is enough, when he did so last year," Jagan told reporters.
"Even as speeches made by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Naidu were hurtful, Congress President Rahul Gandhi also barely spoke about Andhra for half a minute. In that time, he did not even question the Centre's stand on SCS," he added.
Jagan also pointed out to a fiery speech by TDP MP Galla Jayadev, who stated that the no-confidence motion was moved against the Narendra Modi government due to a lack of fairness, lack of trust, lack of priority and the lack of an unbiased approach towards Andhra Pradesh.
"Isn't what Galla Jayadev spoke in Parliament, what we have been saying for the last four years? You can even check the records in the Assembly and Parliament," Jagan said.
Jagan also said that all MPs from Andhra Pradesh should submit their resignations to mount pressure on the Centre over the SCS issue.
"On September 9, 2016, Arun Jaitley announced a Special Package which was welcomed by Naidu and his TDP leaders. Just four months later, on Jan 27, 2017, Naidu held a press conference praising BJP and challenged YSRCP. Going a step ahead, Naidu had even published a book on TDP's 'Mahanadu', the party's annual meeting, which claims that SCS is not useful for the state's development," Jagan said.
Jagan said that Naidu later changed his stance, after exiting from the NDA coalition in March this year.
"Rajnath Singh stated in Parliament on Friday that the relation of Naidu and BJP is very strong like Fevikwik," Jagan said.
"YSRCP is the only party which stood firmly and strongly on SCS for the past four years and is still continuing to protest for the welfare of the state of Andhra," he added.
The Opposition leader also requested the people of Andhra against believing any of the central parties until SCS was granted.
Calling for the shutdown of Andhra Pradesh on July 24, Jagan sought the support of all political parties and groups in the state and said that the time had now come to exert pressure on the Centre.
For the first time in 15 years, the lower house of Parliament held a debate on a no-confidence motion on Friday, moved by the TDP and the Congress, which the NDA government won comfortably.
The no confidence motion in the council of ministers was defeated by the government with 325 votes, against 126 votes. No one abstained during the vote, however several members -- including those from the BJD -- were not present in the House during the vote.