Giving funding equivalent to special category status to Andhra: Jaitley

On Rahul Gandhi's promise of special category status to AP if his party comes to power, he said, "I have to follow constitutional award"

With TDP threatening to quit the NDA government, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on Wednesday stepped in to pacify the sulking partner saying the Centre is committed to giving Andhra Pradesh financial assistance equivalent to a special category state.

Jaitley said he agreed with the assessment that Andhra Pradesh was financially suffering after Telengana was carved out of the state and his government will honour each and every commitment made by the Centre at the time of bifurcation.

On Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu's demand for fulfilling the promise of giving the state a special status, he said such a category did