Centre's denial of SCS to AP makes it lowest per capita income state: Lokesh

The Centre government not granting the Special Category Status to Andhra Pradesh has reduced it to the lowest per capita income state in South India and it would take years for the state to catch-up with others, IT minister Nara Lokesh said here Monday.

Accusing the ruling BJP government of "back-stabbing" Andhra Pradesh despite sharing an alliance with state's ruling Telugu Desam Party, Lokesh said the bifurcation of the state had resulted in great depravation of industrial investment.

"We were patient for four years. Unfortunately, the promises were not honoured," Lokesh, the son of the state's Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu, told PTI.

"Post bifurcation there is lot of depravation in terms of opportunities and investments being made. This resulted in Andhra Pradesh being the lowest per capita state in South India and this will continue for the next ten years," said Lokesh, who is here to attend the World Economic Forum and to seek Chinese investments.

He said when Andhra Pradesh was bifurcated in 2014, the then prime minister Manmohan Singh stated in Parliament that the Special Category Status would be extended to the state for five years to help put it on a firmer footing.

"We are appealing to the rest of the country that certain commitments have been made following which the bifurcation bill was passed. When the commitment was made by Manmohan Singh the sanctity of the House should prevail and it should beyond politics," he said.

The way the bifurcation was done, Andhraites got the lowest per capita income in South India, he said, adding that prior to that 62 years of hard work from people of Andhra and Telangana went in to build Hyderabad as the capital city, which contributed the most to per capita income.

Now Andhra Pradesh is left to fend for itself with the burden of building a capital of its own, he said.

"In all fairness India should support Amravati, the new capital. We have not build a green field city post Chandigarh. All countries are building massive cities. If Amravati succeeds, we could able to show successful microcosms of activity and growth. That is the need for India," he said.

The State is trying to reduce gap with sustained double digit growth for the last four years with host of industrial investment campaigns, he said.

So far 755 companies have gone into production in the State, attracting about Rs 1.55 lakh crore investment and creating 2.5 lakh jobs, he said.

"We are the only state growing at an average of 10.25 per cent compared with any other state," Lokesh said.

He said despite this, the per capita income gap between Karnataka, Telangana and Tamil Nadu with respect to Andhra Pradesh was nearly about Rs 40,000.

"That is a massive gap. About Rs 40,000 on the base of Rs 1.80 lakhs which is more than 20 per cent," he said and appealed to the rest of India to help the State get the Special Category Status (SCS).

He said the most important clause of SCS was industrial incentives and the pattern of the fund central government devolves to the state.

It is the responsibility of every state in India to help Andhra Pradesh (AP) secure the SCS as all parties have voted for it, he said.

Lokesh said his government was "caught by surprise" by the BJP's decision to not grant the SCS and not implement the promise of special package.

"The point here is that they said SCS status is not being given to any state, because with GST coming in. However, we will give you special package which will ensure that the interest of the state was protected," he said.

"We have agreed to that because we believe in our partners. Partnership or marriage is based on belief. But unfortunately, the erstwhile states which had SCS have been renewed, while Andhra Pradesh has been deprived and they have not done what they promised to us," he said.

"This is called nammaka droham (back stabbing) in Telugu. If Congress deceived us, the BJP told a lie to our face and deceived us too," he said.

Asked how justified was it that his party was now aligning with Congress in Telangana to contest the upcoming Assembly polls, Lokesh said it was because the party president Rahul Gandhi had promised to implement the SCS.

"It is primarily on the Congress commitment for SCS. No second thoughts about it. It is purely based on that commitment that we are going forward to work with them," he said.

On the order for the arrest of Chandrababu Naidu by a court in Maharashtra, Lokesh said "that is the beauty of Indian democracy. He has protested the construction of the dam in 2010. Maharashtra police illegally detained him".

He said the state was successfully attracting investments in energy and electronics.

"We contribute 30 per cent to India's mobile manufacturing. This is in three and half years," he said.

South Korean Automobile manufacturer KIA has committed to invest USD three billion in the state, he said.