Dashing the hopes of the people of Andhra Pradesh for a special category status to the State, none other than chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu’s trusted lieutenant and Union minister of state for science and technology Y Satyanarayana Chowdary alias Sujana Chowdary has said the issue of special status is immaterial now.

Giving a twist to the row, Chowdary said that even if the Centre failed to accord special status to AP, it would give all tax concessions to the state. “I am confident that the Centre would give all concessions to AP as was promised during the passage of the AP Reorganisation Bill-2014,” he said in an interaction with mediapersons here on Saturday. The Union minister exuded confidence that the Centre would provide clarity on the issue of according special status to AP in a fortnight’s time.

The latest statement of Sujana Chowdary strengthens the suspicion that the state government is losing hope on the possibility of the Centre granting special status to the to AP as was promised in Parliament during the passage of the AP Reorganisation Bill-2014. Though top leaders in the TDP are time and again openly claiming that Centre would fulfil its promise on special status, several of them, however, sound sceptical in private talks.

A senior minister disclosed that instead of granting special-category status to AP, the government is now considering the option of giving incentives and other benefits. “The Centre is formulating an alternative package for AP. It includes tax incentives to help the state attract investments,” he said.