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Opposition extends support to protesting Amaravati farmers
Leaders of Telugu Desam Party, Bharatiya Janata Party, Congress, Jana Sena and Communist Party of India besides representatives of various organisations like Andhra Intellectuals Forum, addressed a massive rally at Tirupati, on the conclusion of the 45-day padayatra by hundreds of farmers from Amaravati.
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Barring the ruling YSR Congress party, all the opposition parties in Andhra Pradesh on Friday pledged their support to the two-year long agitation of farmers of Amaravati for retention of the state capital in their region and vowed to fight against the three capitals for the state.
Leaders of Telugu Desam Party, Bharatiya Janata Party, Congress, Jana Sena and Communist Party of India besides representatives of various organisations like Andhra Intellectuals Forum, addressed a massive rally at Tirupati, on the conclusion of the 45-day padayatra by hundreds of farmers from Amaravati.
Communist Party of India (Marxist) state secretary P Madhu, however, stayed away from the meeting on the ground that he cannot share the dais with the BJP leaders, but said his party would extend support to the demand for Amaravati as the only state capital of Andhra Pradesh.
Interestingly, rebel YSR Congress party parliamentarian K Raghurama Raju, who has revolted against the Jagan Mohan Reddy government, attended the rally and assured that he would lobby with the Centre to see that Amaravati would remain the capital of the state.
Giving the “Save Amaravati” call from the dais, TDP president and former chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu sought to know why Jagan Mohan Reddy was so adamant on creating three capitals for the state, when the entire opposition, including the national parties, were demanding that Amaravati should be continued as one and only capital of the state.
He alleged that the YSRCP government had ditched thousands of farmers who had given away their lands for the construction of Amaravati. He wondered whether the chief minister was jealous of the huge potential of Amaravati.
Naidu recalled that Prime Minister Narendra Modi had laid the foundation stone for the capital city at Amaravati and extended a financial assistance of ₹2,500 crore. “He also exempted the farmers of the capital city from paying capital gains tax. It was acknowledged as the people’s capital,” he said.
Naidu complimented hundreds of farmers including men and women, who walked down from Amaravati to Tirupati to highlight their demand. He said they would get the divine blessings of Lord Venkateshwara. “The ultimate victory would be that of the farmers. Their agitation for the last two years would not go waste, as they are fighting for the future of five crore Telugu people,” he said.
Former state BJP president Kanna Lakshminarayana, Jana Sena leader Hariprasad, CPI leaders K Narayana and P Ramakrishna and others pledged their support to the agitating farmers of Amaravati.
