Press Releases Archive

The Loksatta Party today expressed satisfaction over the Union Government and the Planning Commission fulfilling the solemn commitment made by former Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh in Parliament on according special category status to residuary Andhra Pradesh following its bifurcation.

In a media statement, Dr. JP recalled that it was the Loksatta Party which had proposed grant of special category status to Andhra Pradesh. The status was warranted since residuary Andhra Pradesh would start off with a significant revenue deficit with the loss of Hyderabad and the huge revenue it generates. Most industries and businesses are concentrated in Hyderabad. If industry is to be promoted in residuary Andhra Pradesh exemptions in corporate income tax and excise duties have to be extended on par with those in special category States like Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand. Backward regions like north coastal Andhra and Rayalaseema deserve special assistance for improving infrastructure and combating poverty.

Dr. JP said that mere extension of special category status to residuary Andhra Pradesh for five years is not enough. The Union Government has to meet Andhra Pradesh’s revenue deficit for 10 years. Tax exemptions should be extended to all new industrial units to be set up in the next ten years and not five years, and the units should be enabled to enjoy tax exemptions for 20 years.

Dr. JP would like the new Government in Andhra Pradesh to focus on improving infrastructure, stimulating investment and encouraging productive activities. If precious resources are squandered on unproductive, populist and short-term sops, the State will be forgoing a golden opportunity to unveil a bright future for its youth.

Conveying his good wishes for the happiness and prosperity of 3.5 crore Telangana people following the formation of a separate State, Loksatta Party national President Dr. Jayaprakash Narayan today pledged to extend constructive cooperation to the new Government headed by TRS President K. Chandrasekhara Rao. 

Underlining the need for both Telanagana and Andhra Pradesh Governments working together to ensure a bright future for their youth, Dr. JP said that a geographical division on a map is not going to obliterate their common civilization and culture, language, literature and history, Dr. JP said at a media conference.

Celebrating the formation of Telangana State at the party headquarters, Dr. JP hoisted the national tricolor and Mr. Bandaru Ramamohan Rao the party flag after offering floral tributes to the portraits of B. R. Ambedkar and Mahatma Gandhi. 

Dr. JP said that formation of Telangana has opened a new era in Telugu people’s history. It marks the culmination of sacrifices made by hundreds of people for decades. 

He recalled that the Loksatta Party had declared unequivocally in the Assembly that formation of a Telangana State is necessary and inevitable. And it has had the distinction of laying the foundation for a bright future for the people of the two States. 

The recent general elections once again demonstrated that Indian people are mature enough to elect stable Governments. The Constitution which has preserved unity amidst complex diversity in the country has also facilitated formation of Telangana State. 

Describing himself as an eternal optimist, Dr. JP hoped the two States would be in the forefront of economic development in the next one decade in the country. Members of Parliament belonging to the two States should fight together to preserve and promote Telugu people’s interests. The two Governments should maintain cordial and amicable relations and enter into a healthy competition. If they follow the policy of ‘an eye for an eye’ both will go blind and other States will march ahead of them. 

There might be hiccups between the two States initially over division of river waters, financial resources, employees etc. But such problems are not intractable. In fact, they appear to be trivial when compared to the challenges the two Governments face in living up to people’s expectations.

The two Governments will have to focus on improving infrastructure including power supply, attracting investments, promoting manufacturing, decentralizing power and providing good education and skills to youth and not on offering short-term sops to cling on to power. 

Dr. JP referred to the absence of Andhra Pradesh leaders at the swearing-in ceremony of Mr. K. Chandrasekhara Rao as Telangana Chief Minister and hoped that such mistakes would not be repeated in future.

Party leaders Katari Srinivasa Rao, P. Ravi Maruth, P. R. Rao and Mrs. Geetha Murthy took part in the media conference.