Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi on Sunday said that after coming to power in 2019 elections, the party will make sure that Andhra Pradesh gets special status as promised by former prime minister Dr. Manmohan Singh.
"In 2019 when we will come to power then our government will ensure special status is given to Andhra Pradesh. Manmohan Singh ji promised that he will give special status to Andhra Pradesh. He wanted to make Andhra Pradesh country's most important state and he also wanted the Central Government to help immensely in this matter," Gandhi said while addressing a public rally here.
He further said that special status means when the Indian Government gives money to a particular state then 70 percent is for loan while the remaining 30 percent is in grant.
"In a normal state, they have to return the 70 percent of the money while in a special status 90 percent of the money is given as a grant by the government and not as loan. By this Andhra Pradesh would have benefited with more than Rs. 1,000 crore. But I don't understand why don't there is no unity between the political parties here," Gandhi added.
Hitting out at Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Gandhi said that the former says that he protects Hindu religion but he did not stick to his promises.
"Modi ji promised Andhra Pradesh in front of the Tirupati temple that he will give 10-year special status to the state. Now tell me what kind of Hindu is he who tells a lie in front of a temple. Everybody wants to help Andhra Pradesh. We are not afraid of Narendra Modi. We will not back out until Andhra Pradesh is given a special status. This is your right and this right was given to you by an Indian Prime Minister (Manmohan Singh)," he asserted.
Continuing his tirade against Prime Minister Modi, Gandhi said the former had promised that he would give employment to more than two crore people but till now not even one lakh has got the jobs.
"He talks about Swacch Bharat. For the first time, an Indian Prime Minister has said that 'I am going to the United States and after I come back, I will see how much cleanliness has been done'," he added.