Naidu asked for money but never implemented anything: Piyush Goyal

On a day the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) pulled out of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA), Union railways minister Piyush Goyal said the decision was more "sentimental than factual".

"Naidu failed to do anything. We gave them funds, but if you go to Amaravati, you will find that nothing has happened on the ground. Now, he is blaming us. They only asked for money but failed to implement anything," said Goyal, while speaking at News18 Rising India Summit.

Denying Naidu's claim of his state not getting its rightful share, Goyal said it was the central government which provided Andhra Pradesh the monetary back up.

"Even when the 14th Financial Commission decided not to provide special category status to states except North East, it was the central government who still provided them monetary back up," said Goyal.

To a question on whether there was a possibility of the TDP returning to the NDA fold, Goyal said, "Politics is all about possibilities."

Union minister for Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari also commented on TDP leaders' claims about Andhra Pradesh's claims of the state being neglected and said, "I do not wish to comment on the political aspects of the issue. However, the fact is that Andhra Pradesh has got twice the number of roads as compared to the previous regime."

Gadkari further said, "If we give special status to Andhra Pradesh, then other states will also demand it. This is not a feasible idea."

TDP today ended its four-year-old alliance with the BJP and walked out of the NDA, eight days after two of its union ministers resigned over the Centre's refusal to grant Special Category Status to Andhra Pradesh.

OneIndia News