Noting that there were no impediments at all, the Andhra Pradesh assembly on Tuesday adopted a resolution requesting the Centre to confer the special category status (SCS) with all financial benefits and industrial incentives without further delay.
It also asked the Union government to fulfill all provisions and assurances incorporated in the Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Act, 2014, in letter and spirit.
The issue generated a heated debate as the ruling YSR Congress Party (YSRCP) blamed the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) for allegedly failing to secure the SCS, though the Centre had "indeed granted it".
Chief Minister Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy, who moved the resolution, said the SCS was an "essential lifeline" and an imperative to compensate the state for the economic and financial "deprivation" caused by bifurcation.
In the resolution, Reddy said: "The Union cabinet that met on March 2, 2014, had resolved to accord the SCS to AP and instructed the then Planning Commission to take expeditious action to implement the decision."