Hyderabad: Congress and Left parties on Friday held protests over Prime Minister Narendra Modi not announcing Special Status for Andhra Pradesh during his visit to the state on Thursday.

Dismissing opposition's allegations, Union Minister M Venkaiah Naidu said the Centre is helping Andhra Pradesh and also Telangana in a continuous manner. Congress and Left party workers staged protests like demonstrations and burning effigies at places like Visakhapatnam and Vijayawada in protest of the NDA government not conferring the status to the state.

The main opposition YSR Congress, Congress and the Left have been agitating against the NDA government for not acting on the promise of special status made to Seemandhra (new Andhra Pradesh) by the then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in the Parliament during the bifurcation last year.

The Centre is considering the process of doing justice to both (Andhra Pradesh and Telangana) as a continuous process. The Centre has decided to include Amaravati (capital city of AP) in the 'AMRUT' (Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation) scheme, Naidu told reporters.

He took exception to some opposition leaders making light of the Prime Minister bringing samples of soil from Parliament House complex and Yamuna river water from Delhi for using in the construction of Amaravati.

Modi laid the foundation stone for Amaravati at a grand event in Guntur district on Thursday. Some people said Prime Minister only brought soil from Parliament and water from Yamuna (without announcing concrete measures). It should not be trivialised like that. It's sentiment.

He (PM) sent out the message that the country is with you in developing Amaravati. Instead of appreciating it, they are ready to criticise. If you are so ready, you should have kept it(special status) in the (Andhra Pradesh Re-organisation) Act, the minister said.

PTI