APCC Chief : Struggle for Special Category Status still continue

Vijayawada, Nov 21: The Andhra Pradesh Congress Committee (APCC) has announced it will continue its struggle for special category status as assured in the Reorganisation Act and exhorted the youth to gear up for agitations to mount pressure on the State and Centre.

APCC president N. Raghuveera Reddy accused ruling Telugu Desam Party (TDP) and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) of 'betraying' the people by claiming that the special category status for the State was a closed chapter.

He criticised the TDP government for unleashing repression on workers of Congress and Left parties, which gave a call for 'Chalo Assembly' on Monday to remind the government of its promise.

Several leaders and activists have been arrested by police since Sunday night with some of them even being brought to places as far as Hyderabad to foil their Chalo Assembly bid. The cops, he said, went to the extent of removing tents and chairs at Dharna Chowk in Vijayawada.

Asserting that the Congress is committed to bag special category status to the State as and when it returns to power at the Centre, he said party vice-president Rahul Gandhi too had expressed intentions to sign the first file according to special status to AP.

The special status, he said, would help the state enjoy a host of benefits, including exemption from Goods and Services Tax (GST), like it happens in the case of 11 states in the country. The exemption has resulted in saving over Rs. 28,000 crores on their part.