Andhra farmers’ protest to retain Amaravati as capital enters 200th day
Vijayawada: TD president N. Chandrababu Naidu on Saturday appealed to Prime Minister Narendra Modi to intervene and save the Amaravati Capital City from “destructive strategies” of the Jagan Mohan Reddy government in the state.
He told the PM that it is the duty of Central government to protect Amaravati in accordance with the spirit of AP Reorganisation Act, which recommended a single capital for the residual state of Andhra Pradesh and not multiple capital cities, as is being proposed now.
Mr Naidu recalled that PM Modi himself had brought divine soil from the Parli-amentary grounds in Delhi and sacred water from Yamuna River as mark of the entire nation's blessings for the new capital for AP when its foundation stone was laid at Amaravati.
The TD chief, addressing a national-level webinar organised to coincide with the 200th Day of Protests for retaining Amaravati as the sole capital, underlined the need for Central government to consider Amaravati as a national project. It is not just a concern of a few thousand farmers or local people, it is will of the entire population of Andhra Pradesh to develop a potentially strong capital for AP at a single place. This is evident from people of AP living in over 200 cities across the world taking part in the 200th Day for Amaravati protests.
Mr Naidu told the centre that while in opposition prior to 2019, Jagan Mohan Reddy had stated on the floor of the AP Assembly that he approved formation of the capital city at Amaravati. However, after coming to power, the Chief Minister has chosen to break this promise with the sole aim of destroying Amaravati.
The former chief minister pointed out that central funds of Rs. 2,500 crore have already been spent in Amaravati. Together with the state’s expenditure, a total Rs. 9,500 crore have already been invested on various Amaravati project works.
The centre had promised to give more funds for Amaravati, but the YSRC government is overlooking the same with the ulterior motive of destroying Amaravati for political reasons.
Naidu claimed that all political parties except the ruling YSRC in the state are opposing the three-capitals proposal. He further asserted that as per the Reorganisation Act, the then democratically elected government (of TDP) has already decided on the capital for AP at Amaravati and there is no scope to reverse this decision.
