Amaravati as capital, Opposition echoes farmers' voice

Tirupati: Despite having different political ideologies, all opposition parties in Andhra Pradesh shared one platform at Tirupati on Friday to extend their solidarity with the farmers of Amaravati who took out a 450-km long padayatra from Amaravati to Tirupati.

Addressing the mammoth public meeting organised by Amaravati Parirakshana Samithi, leaders of BJP, TDP, Congress, CPI, CPM and Jana Sena said that all of them had shared the platform to demonstrate that there was unity in diversity on the issue of capital.

The former BJP state president Kanna Lakshminarayana made it clear that the BJP leadership from Prime Minister Narendra Modi to the state unit all have one stand and that is Amaravati is the capital of Andhra Pradesh. He said the Central government had allocated various projects to AP keeping in mind Amaravati as the capital.

The Amaravati Parirakshana Samithi leaders thanked all the political leaders for their support. They also said many YSRCP leaders had extended their help to the padayatra though they did not join the public meeting openly. They said people from all parts, coastal Andhra, north coastal and Rayalaseema regions had stood by the farmers during the agitation and the padayatra as well.

The CPI national secretary K Narayana urged the government to go in for decentralisation of administration and development but not to have three capitals. He said it was decided by all political parties, including the YSRCP that the state capital would be located at Amaravati and a resolution was unanimously adopted in the State Assembly to which YSRCP is also a signatory. Hence, he urged the government not to make any attempt to shift the capital. He appreciated that the government has withdrawn the earlier bill on three capitals and appealed to them not to come up with any fresh bill over this issue.

TDP national president N Chandrababu Naidu said the fight for Amaravati is a 'Dharma Poratam' and expressed confidence that people will emerge victorious. He said the farmers had sacrificed their land for the benefit of five crore people of the state and the then government had given certain assurances in the form of an act and that should be honoured by the present government.

He said that Amaravati can create wealth and support the financial needs of the state.

It is located at the central point to any part of the state from Srikakulam to Anantapur.

Naidu said that CM Jagan Mohan Reddy had supported Amaravati before 2019 elections and demanded that it should be in an area of 30,000 acres. "The YSRCP leaders had been claiming that soil was not suitable, the entire area would be submerged under water etc but all those arguments have been proved wrong. It is the responsibility of everyone, especially youth, to protect it," he added.