Will PM deliver on promise of special category status for Andhra Pradesh, asks Congress

New Delhi: With Prime Minister Narendra Modi visiting Amravati, the Congress on Friday took a swipe at him and asked whether he would deliver on the long-awaited promise of special category status for Andhra Pradesh.

The opposition party's jibe came ahead of Prime Minister Modi's programme in Amravati to inaugurate and lay the foundation stone for projects worth Rs 58,000 crore, including resuming the construction of the greenfield capital city.

Congress general secretary in-charge communications Jairam Ramesh asked that since he has started implementing the vision of the Congress' Nyay Patra with the announcement of the caste census, will he also deliver on the long-awaited promise of Special Category Status for Andhra Pradesh.

"He had promised the same in the holy city of Tirupati in March 2014," Ramesh said.

"Additionally, several other commitments made in the AP Reorganisation Act remain unfulfilled - including the Kadapa Steel Plant, Duggirajupatnam Port, the Kakinada Petro complex, and an Agricultural University for the state," the Congress leader said in a post on X.

"He has dragged his feet on these for ten years - will he finally deliver on them?" Ramesh said.

The Centre on Wednesday announced that caste enumeration will be part of the next population census, with the inclusion of caste details for the first time since Independence.

The Congress has said that the pressure it put on the government for the caste census has worked.