‘Andhra ministers ready for battle with Centre’

Amaravati (Andhra Pradesh): A day after Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley ruled out “special status” to Andhra Pradesh, state Excise Minister KS Jawahar on Thursday said the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) is ready for a battle with the Centre.

“We did not get the special category status that is why our ministers resigned. Our Chief Minister went to Delhi 29 times, argued and begged for the state, but until now we have not received any interest in the matter. The time is over, we are ready to battle,” Jawahar told ANI.

Earlier today, Union Aviation Minister Ashok Gajapathi Raju and Union Minister of State for Science and Technology Y.S. Chowdary submitted their resignations to Prime Minister Modi.

In his resignation letter, Raju said, “I hereby resign from the union council of ministers with immediate effect. I request you to accept the same.”

This came after Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu directed the TDP ministers – Ashok Gajapathi Raju and Y. S. Chowdary – to resign from the Union Cabinet over the matter.

The BJP and its Andhra ally TDP have been sharing a sour relationship following the announcement of the Union Budget 2018-19.

While the latter has been alleging that the Centre neglected the state in the budget, the BJP rejected the charges and said that the Centre not only fulfilled all its obligations, but also went out of its way to help the state. (ANI)