Andhra Pradesh: Protest continues despite government reprisals

Amaravati: When Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy announced his decision on December 17 to form three capital cities—judiciary, legislation and executive—the farmers of Amaravati region, who gave about 33,000 acres of land for the construction of the capital city at Amaravati, were aghast.

They quickly regained from the shock and started demonstrations against the decision on December 17, 2019. They formed Amaravati Parirakshana Samiti, an umbrella organisation of various associations, to launch the struggle for the restoration of the capital city at Amaravati.

It is apt to recall here that the Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Act, 2014, mentions that Hyderabad will remain de jure capital for both Andhra Pradesh and Telangana for 10 years. Considering the situation, the then Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu felt that it would be impractical to have capital in another State and carry out administration from there. Between 2014 -19, Chandrababu Naidu worked hard not only to set up the capital but also to attract investments into the State.

The three capitals Bill have not only halted the development but also created distress among the farming community in the region. Keeping the debts in mind, the then State government came up with a self-finance plan for Amaravati including raising money through Amaravati bonds, innovative partnership model, Public-Private Partnership (PPP), land monetisation, grants, and funding agencies etc. Chandrababu Naidu announced that the State government was planning for decentralised development of the State with three mega cities and 14 smart cities. Convinced by the proposal, the farmers in 29 villages in the Amaravati region voluntarily came forward to donate 33,000 acres of the land to which they still remain emotionally attached.

The then Opposition leader, YS Jagan Mohan Reddy, supported Amaravati as the capital in the Assembly as well as in the media. Later, he even constructed house next to the newly set up party office in Tadepalli.

Till May 25, 2019, Rs 8445 crore was spent on the capital city and Rs 816.11 crore was utilised for the capital region. The construction of the government offices, houses for the MLAs and the IAS officers, and the temporary High Court was completed between 2014 and 19.

On December 17, 2019, Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy, however, announced the government's decision to have three capitals which was touted as one of the most controversial decisions in the history of not just AP but India. This triggered the farmers' protest as they felt cheated and thought that the government wouldn't develop the infrastructure. At least 58 farmers' deaths were reported in past one year because of these protests. In January 2020, the protests took an ugly turn when the police lathi-charged the women protestors.

The YSR Congress Party even went one step further to cast aspersions on the judiciary for staying its three-capital plans.

Meanwhile, Jana Sena chief Pawan Kalyan also expressed his support for Amaravati.

On October 22, 2019, Prime Minister Narendra Modi laid the foundation stone for the construction of the capital city Amaravati at Uddandarayunipalem village. But when the YSRCP government introduced three Capital Bills in the Assembly, the Centre announced that the State government had the right to choose the capital.

YS Jagan Mohan Reddy was expecting that the BJP would back the Three-Capital Bill. He recently met Union Home Minister Amit Shah requesting support for the Three-Capital Bill. However, BJP state president Somu Veerraju announced on Tuesday that the capital city should continue at Amaravati.