Special Status to AP Will Hound Us: Jaitley

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley reportedly gave a clear indication of no Special Status to Andhra Pradesh. Union Ministers – Venkaiah Naidu and Sujana Chowdary sat with Jaitley the other day. Sujana reportedly insisted on Special Status and brought to Jaitley’s notice about the sentiment brewing in the state on the issue.

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“If you said No to Special Status earlier, it would have been different. Now, people have to a position not to accept anything other than Special Status,” Sujana told the Finance Minister. However Jaitley did not look favourable and only promised compensation on par with the loss of Special Status.

“We have Special Status requests pending from 11 States. If we grant it to Andhra Pradesh on some reason, the issue will become election topic in all the eleven states and will haunt us there. You will have to understand our situation. We will definitely compensate for the loss,” Jaitley reportedly told in the meeting.