Protests for ‘One State One Capital’ have completed 300 days on Monday as farmers’ protests intensified across the Amaravati region. The farmers marched against the trifurcation of the capital as proposed by Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Jagan Mohan Reddy.
Reddy has proposed to have three state capitals, i.e. executive capital in Visakhapatnam, Judicial capital at Kurnool and legislative capital at Amaravati. Farmers raised slogans against the government and said there must be only one capital of the state.
As Amaravati agitation completed its 300 days, TDP national general secretary Nara Lokesh visited the protest camps of farmers, and expressed the party’s solidarity with them in the ‘justified demand’ for ‘One State, One Capital’.
Lokesh accused Jagan Mohan Reddy of trying to kill the ‘baby capital’ of Andhra Pradesh in utter disregard for the rights and sacrifices of farmers who gave away 34,000 acres in response to a call given by the then chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu.
Addressing protesters at Penumaka village of Amaravathi region, Nara Lokesh said it was Jaganmohan Reddy who demanded an equidistant new capital to North Andhra and Rayalaseema in over 30,000 acres where there would be no water shortage. Amaravati had met all these parameters. But, Reddy, who approved Amaravati while in Opposition completely changed his stance and started shifting Capital after coming to power. A ruler should show greater responsibility while in power but here this CM is displaying an erosion of that responsibility.”
The YSRCP stated that three capitals are essential for the development of all regions in Andhra Pradesh. The party’s national general secretary Vijay Sai Reddy stated, “Three capitals in different geographical locations of the state would mean development would be evenly distributed and there won’t be a Maharashtra-type situation, wherein almost all the wealth and entrepreneurship is accumulated in its western coastal region, specifically Mumbai. After the bifurcation, the residuary state of Andhra Pradesh faced significant loss in terms of its erstwhile capital, Hyderabad.”
“ Hyderabad that we see today was developed over the decades by people from all over the Teluguspeaking regions. The state now needs a new capital and building one from scratch involves huge costs, time and effort. Therefore, the government has rightly decided to evenly distribute the investment.”