New Delhi, July 24 : Telugu Desam Party (TDP) leader and former Union Minister Y.S. Chowdary on Tuesday accused its former ally BJP of "violating the principles of friendship and political morality" and trying to expand in Andhra Pradesh at the expense of his party.

Initiating a short duration discussion on Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Act, 2014, Chowdary said: "The BJP took a U-turn and violated the principles of friendship and political morality. Their sole aim is to destroy the TDP for their own expansion. That is why we parted ways with a heavy heart."

The TDP was a coalition partner in the ruling National Democratic alliance (NDA) led by the BJP for four years, and severed its ties with the BJP following the Centre's refusal to grant special category status to Andhra Pradesh.

Chowdary said there was a "disconnect" between the words and deeds of Prime Minister Narendra Modi who had "not once, but thrice during his election campaign in 2014 promised special category status for 10 years for the residual state of Andhra Pradesh.

"Now the government is misleading the people of Andhra and the media by saying that the 14th Finance Commission had recommended that there should be no special category status for any state henceforth. This is far from truth. This is opposite of what the government has told the Rajya Sabha in a written reply," Chowdary said.

"We are not begging, we are not asking for any favours. We are asking for what is rightfully ours as per the AP Reorganisation Act," he added.

Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.



Dhanbad (Jharkhand) (PTI): At least four workers died after being buried under coal slurry in Jharkhand's Dhanbad district on Saturday, a police official said.

The incident took place at Moonidih coal washery in the command area of Bharat Coking Coal Limited (BCCL).

"Bodies of all four workers were dug out of debris during a rescue operation," Putki police station in-charge Waqar Hussain told PTI.

The incident took place when coal slurry was being loaded into trucks by workers, during which a large chunk of slurry fell and trapped several workers underneath, officials said.

The deceased have been identified as Manik Bauri, Dinesh Bauri, Deepak Bauri, and Hemlal Gope.

Meanwhile, the family members of the deceased and local villagers placed the bodies in front of the washery gate and began a protest.

They demanded compensation, jobs for dependents and action against those responsible for the incident.

Police and administration officials are trying to pacify the protesters, an official said.