AP Chief Minister YS Jaganmohan Reddy attended an online meeting of the Niti Ayog. It was presided over by Prime Minister Modi. The Chief Ministers of other states also took part in the meeting. Mr. Jagan Reddy made a special mention of how Andhra Pradesh suffered a serious setback because of lack of Special Status. He had scores of other problems of AP in front of the PM but not the current burning topic of the steel plant privatisation.

Mr. Jagan Reddy said the Centre itself said AP was badly hit during the bifurcation but it had not fulfilled the promise on Special Status till now. The CM had also raised the need for the Centre’s approval for the revised estimates of the Polavaram project. He sought approval for 13 medical colleges. He also told the Prime Minister that his Government has been strictly implementing many reforms as per the expectations of the Central Government.

In a very unexpected way, the Chief Minister remained silent on the steel plant issue during the PM meeting. On the other side, his party MPs were saying that they would take up protests against the VSP sale in Delhi soon.A lot of confusion is going on in the steel plant issue. There has been no clarification from the PM or Amit Shah or any Union Minister officially whether the Centre has withdrawn the VSP sale or not. However, BJP AP leaders and AP CM have said there is no decision taken on the privatisation so far.