BJP led Central govt playing politics over Andhra Pradesh's capital issue: CPI leader

Demanding to clarify the Centre's stand on the issue of Andhra Pradesh's capital, state CPI Secretary K Ramakrishna on Monday alleged that the BJP-led Union government is playing politics over the issue.

Addressing the mediapersons here, Ramakrishnan said, "We have been suspecting since the beginning that the Centre is playing politics over the state's capital issue. This was proved in a recent Parliament session when responding to the petrol price hike in the respective states, the Centre mentioned Visakhapatnam as Andhra Pradesh capital. However, they changed Visakhapatnam as Reference City, but this shows that BJP and YSRCP are hand in glove."

The central government is primarily responsible for rising petrol and diesel prices in the country, he said. At the same time, the Andhra Pradesh government has also increased taxes on petrol and diesel, Ramakrishnan said. "The neighbouring states are reducing prices, but Jagan Mohan Reddy government is not taking any such initiatives. We request the state govt to reduce the burden on the people of the state," he said.

He slammed the BJP-led Central government and YSRCP for privatizing public assets.

The CPI Secretary said, "On one side, the state government is opposing the privatization of Visakhapatnam Steel Plant (VSP), on the other hand, the state is selling its 10 per cent stake in Gangavaram Port in Visakhapatnam."

( With inputs from ANI )