Political heat rises in AP as padayatras make strides

Visakhapatnam: Even as incessant rains have brought down temperatures to a considerable extent, political heat in Andhra Pradesh continues to soar. Unlike the earlier padayatra of Amaravati farmers, this time, the ruling party has taken the ongoing Maha Padayatra from Amaravati to Arasavalli way too seriously and launched a counterattack to weaken it. As a result, the YSRCP has decided to launch 'Visakha Garjana' to garner maximum support from various sections of society to make Visakhapatnam executive capital of Andhra Pradesh.

Ahead of the massive 'Visakha Garjana' scheduled on October 15, MLAs from north Andhra are tendering their resignation from their posts. After a brief gap, the three capitals proposal of the state has once again turned out to be a hot topic to debate over. Although it is unclear to figure out as to what would be the final outcome at this juncture, the move has certainly led to heated arguments among the political parties. But the intellectuals, academicians and employees from various sectors wonder whether there is anything else to focus on other than the three capitals.

According Special Category Status to Andhra Pradesh, facilitating the new railway zone with Visakhapatnam as its headquarters, halting privatisation of Visakhapatnam Steel Plant are some of the burning issues. However, what surprises the Opposition parties is the way the ruling party is brushing other burning issues aside and laying its focus more on decentralisation.

Much against the decision of the Union government's 100 per cent strategic sale of VSP that provides direct and indirect employment to lakhs of people, TDP MLA Ganta Srinivasa Rao submitted his resignation letter in speaker format. Back then, the TDP leaders demanded resignation of the YSRCP MPs and MLAs too. Responding to the demand, the ruling party leaders made it clear that there was no benefit in resigning from the posts for the purpose.

The scenario, however, seems to be different now as the YSRCP leaders are tendering resignation to their posts to make decentralisation a reality. Irrespective of the people's sentiments attached with the state capital, the proposal has now become a major concern for the two parties – the YSRCP and TDP.

While the TDP is leading the Amaravati farmers' Maha Padayatra from the beginning, the ruling party is extending its complete support to the Joint Action Committee (JAC) in support of decentralisation move. In a few weeks, the Maha Padayatra of Amaravati farmers is likely to reach North Andhra. By then, the JAC would have taken the executive capital slogan way forward among the masses.

Meanwhile, it has to be seen as to how the Maha Padayatra would proceed in north Andhra region and what would be its impact. People are concerned over the power struggle between the ruling party and the Opposition which is likely to disrupt peace and security in the coming days. Unfortunately, those who are supposed to help derive a positive solution to the issue have taken sides by dividing into two different groups and extending support to the political parties in meeting their agendas.