Special Category for Andhra Pradesh: Budget Session discussion includes Chandrababu Naidu and Nitish Kumar’s input. Jairam Ramesh’s comment on C Naidu.

In an all-party meeting ahead of the parliament’s budget session, Congress’s Jairam Ramesh stated that demands for special category status for Bihar and Andhra Pradesh were raised. The demand for Bihar’s special status was raised by members of the BJP ally JD(U), while the call for Andhra Pradesh’s special status came from Jaganmohan Reddy’s YSR Congress.

Notably, Chandrababu Naidu’s Telugu Desam Party, a BJP ally, remained silent on the matter. During the meeting chaired by Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, JD(U) leader demanded special category status for Bihar, while the YSRCP leader demanded it for Andhra Pradesh.

A post on X, formerly Twitter, highlighted the change in the political climate and mentioned that the BJD leader reminded the Defence Minister and BJP President JP Nadda about the BJP’s 2014 assembly election manifesto promise of special category status for Odisha. This signaled a shift in Biju Janata Dal’s stance against the BJP after losing power in the recent state assembly election.

Amit Malviya from the BJP responded to the situation by expressing concern over the live tweeting of the proceedings by Jairam Ramesh, emphasizing the need for a more experienced representative from Congress for the next all-party meeting. The government urged the Opposition to cooperate and ensure smooth proceedings during the budget session, emphasizing the importance of upholding parliamentary traditions and avoiding disruptions during Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s speech in the previous session.

The budget session of parliament is set to begin on Monday, preceding the presentation of the Union budget on Tuesday.