Congress's Jairam Ramesh today said in the all-party meeting ahead of parliament's budget session, demands for special category status for Bihar and Andhra Pradesh were raised.
While members of BJP ally JD(U) raised the demand for Bihar, the call for special status of Andhra Pradesh was raised by Jaganmohan Reddy's YSR Congress. The BJP ally Chandrababu Naidu's Telugu Desam Party, he added, had remained silent.
"In today's all-party meeting of floor leaders chaired by Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, the JD(U) leader demanded special category status of Bihar. The YSRCP leader demanded special category status for Andhra Pradesh. Strangely, the TDP leader kept quiet on the matter," read his post on X, formerly Twitter.
"How the political climate has changed! In the all-party meeting of floor leaders the BJD leader reminded the Defence Minister and BJP President JP Nadda that the BJP's manifesto for the 2014 assembly elections in Odisha had promised special category status to the state," read another post.
Naveen Patnaik's Biju Janata Dal, which earlier supported the government in Rajya Sabha over multiple issues, has now pitted itself firmly against the BJP.
The change of stance came after it was routed by the BJP in the recent assembly election in the state and lost power after 24 years.
The BJP's Amit Malviya responded with a jab.
"There is a certain propriety and protocol one associates with these all party meetings. There is free and frank exchange of ideas followed by media briefing. But a look at Jairam Ramesh's timeline and it appears he was live tweeting the proceedings. Next time, the Congress should consider sending a more seasoned hand for these meetings," his post read.
The budget session of parliament begins on Monday ahead of Tuesday's presentation of the Union budget.
At the all-party meet, the government urged the Opposition to cooperate and ensure smooth conduct of proceedings, underscoring that disruptions in both Houses during Prime Minister Narendra Modi's speech in the previous session did not measure up to parliamentary traditions.
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