TIRUPATI: Buoyed by the success of Visakha Garjana, YSR Congress is gearing up to organise a “Rayalaseema Athma Gourava Maha Sabha” at Tirupati on October 29 in support of Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy government's plan to ensure decentralised development in Andhra Pradesh.
Addressing a press conference here on Wednesday, Tirupati MLA Bhumana Karunakar Reddy and leaders of Joint Action Committee (JAC) comprising employees, intellectuals and eminent people, called upon people to make the meeting a roaring success.
The JAC is expecting participation of more than two lakh people in the event being organised in support of three capitals plan for AP and making Kurnool as the judicial capital of Andhra Pradesh. Preceding the public meeting, a mammoth procession will be taken out under the banner of “Rayalaseema Garjana'' from Krishnapuram Thaana to Municipal Corporation Office Circle.
Reiterating that CM Jagan’s objective of three capitals is to ensure equitable development of all the regions in the state, the YSRC MLA said they have nothing against development of Amaravati as the legislative capital. But he said it is high time Rayalaseema and north Andhra regions received due recognition.
Karunakar Reddy faulted TD chief N. Chandrababu Naidu for pitching Amaravati as the only capital. Terming the former CM as “Rayalaseema traitor”, he regretted that despite serving for over 14 years as chief minister of Andhra Pradesh, Naidu had remained blind to the distress of Rayalaseema people.
“People of Rayalaseema region have not had their interests taken into consideration by successive governments. They lost water projects, state capital (Kurnool) to other regions, apart from facing the scourge of farmers’ suicides. CM Jagan’s decentralised development plan alone can salvage the region from decades of exploitation and under-development,” the Tirupati MLA maintained.
Meanwhile, JAC leaders said the government's decision to form three capitals is welcome in the interest of the comprehensive development of the state. However, they would like to put on record that Rayalaseema, which has been neglected for more than five decades, deserves its fair share of development. They also sought implementation of the Sri Bagh Pact.
