All our MPs will resign, says YSR Congress, appeals to TDP to do the same over Andhra Pradesh special status demand

NEW DELHI: The YSR Congress Party (YSRCP) has said all of its Lok Sabha MPs would tender their resignations on the last day of the ongoing Budget Session of Parliament. The party has also appealed to state political rival Telugu Desam Party (TDP) to join it in the mass resignation.

"Our Lok Sabha MPs would submit their resignations on the last day of the ongoing budget session, even if the schedule is advanced," said the YSRCP, reported news agency ANI.

"We have asked the TDP MPs to do the same, to send a strong signal to the nation about the Special Category Status," the statement added. YSR Congess has 7 seats in the Lok Sabha, while the TDP has 11.

Both the YSRCP and TDP, which are rivals in Andhra Pradesh politics, have found themselves on the same side of the special category demand, which Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley has said is not possible because such a provision has been removed from the 15th Finance Commission.'

The special category status would help state governments receive more funds from the Centre. It had been a poll promise of the TDP-BJP combine in 2014. However, things had come to head as part of the Parliamentary proceedings to pass Budget 2018. The Centre had not given Andhra Pradesh special category status.

This had caused a widening rift between the BJP and TDP, both at the Centre and in the Andhra Pradesh government. In a bid to press its demand, the TDP had announced that its ministers in the Union Cabinet - there were two - would resign.

Just days later, the TDP quit the ruling NDA coalition. However, the TDP's exit does not put any strain on the stability of the BJP-led government.

The present state of Andhra Pradesh had been opposed to the bifurcation of the undivided state and the creation of a separate state of Telangana. Leaders from the region had sought special status from the Centre, citing decades of investments surrounding the capital Hyderabad, and the need to ramp up infrastructure investments across the newly-formed state.