CPM asks CM to honour people's wish on capital city

Vijayawada: Demanding an end to all the controversies, CPM State Executive Member Ch Babu Rao urged Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy to honour the wish of the people on the capital city.

Addressing the media here on Friday, Babu Rao said that it was not proper on the part of the Chief Minister to go against his own election assurances, the High Court judgment, the unanimous resolution in the Assembly during last term, the CRDA Act, the land pooling regulations and the agreements arrived with the Amaravati farmers in the name of decentralisation.

If the previous government committed any mistakes, the State government should try to rectify them, but there should not be any revenge against the people of the capital region, he pointed out.

Only the BJP would be happy due to the controversy on the capital city and the stalemate and no one else, he added.

Terming the decentralisation as misinterpretation, the CPM leader said that there should be decentralisation of development but not the trifurcation of the capital city. 'The CM says that Rs one lakh crore is needed for the construction of capital city but Opposition leader N Chandrababu Naidu says that it was a self-financing capital and no problem of funds.'

But both of them forget that it was the responsibility of the Centre to build the capital city and they should try hard to get funds from the Centre, he pointed out.

'The State government had already wasted three precious years in the capital city construction and also the development of the Rayalaseema and North Andhra districts. It is unbecoming of the Chief Minister to divide people of Amaravati and the rest of the state with his uncharitable remarks.'

Babu Rao recalled the statement of Jagan Mohan Reddy as the opposition leader in the Assembly that the capital city should have 30,000 acres and it should be between Guntur and Vijayawada. "When the BJP, TDP and YSRCP unanimously agreed for the capital city here, why change it," he wondered.

Babu Rao said that it's highly objectionable to brand the people of the capital region that they are all benamis and the realtors. Nearly 70 per cent of people are poor and farm workers belonging to weaker sections. The development of the Guntur and Vijayawada was totally neglected by both the governments, he added.

The CPM leader demanded

the State government to start construction of the capital city immediately and strive to get funds from the centre.