BJP State chief assures all help under special package

VIJAYAWADA :  The BJP state president and Visakhapatnam MP K Haribabu has said that the Centre was raining funds and projects to the State and still found that there was 30 per cent difference between Special Category Status benefits and special package benefits.

“In order to help Andhra Pradesh, the Centre has also decided to extend all its help by sanctioning external aid and repayments in the projects to plug the gap of 30 per cent,” he said.

Addressing a press conference here on Sunday, Haribabu said that the Special Category Status was not given to the State due to some technical issues. “Whatever the benefits are would come to the State under the special status, the BJP government would sanction all the benefits in the special package,” he assured.

Talking about increasing the number of Assembly seats in the State, he said that the Union Ministry of Home Affairs has been seriously working to increase the assembly seats in both Andhra Pradesh and Telangana State. 

“According to Article 170 of the Constitution, the Assembly seats should not be increased till 2026 in the country. However, as both chief ministers of the States requested the Union government informing the need after the bifurcation of the State, the Home Affairs Ministry is planning to increase the Assembly seats before 2019 general elections,” he added.

Haribabu said that as per the Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Bill-2014, the Centre has to increase the Assembly seats in both the states. “As per calculations, the present 175 Assembly seats in AP would be increased to 225 and in Telangana State the existing 119 seats would be increased to 153,” he said