Even as farmers are opposing the Jagan government’s plan to trifurcate the capital of Andhra Pradesh, scores of Dalits have come out on the street demanding land in Amaravati for the construction of their houses. They have also sought three capitals for the state “for better development”.
A number of Dalits from neighboring villages, particularly Mangalagiri, Chinna Kakani and Guntur, reached Amaravati in auto rickshaws and put up a tent adjacent to the road for staging a dharna demanding allotment of plots. The local farmers of Amaravati stopped the autos and asked the passengers to go back, alleging that they were paid persons of the ruling YSRCP to suppress the agitation for Amaravati capital.
This led to a tense situation and the police intervened and allowed the “Dalit farmers” to stage dharnas for the land distribution.
The YSRCP leaders allege that the majority of the farmers who have been running the agitation to retain the capital city at Amaravati belong to one community.
Baptla MP Nadigama Suresh who is also a Dalit said, “It is unfortunate that a section of the media portrayed the Dalits who took part in agitation for land in Amaravati as paid artists and actors”. The MP said there were parallel agitations in the Amaravati region, one by the weaker sections and the other by the so-called farmers of the region who wanted Amaravati to be the sole capital, sponsored by the TDP.
He said it is quite evident that those who are agitating for the capital to be set up in Amaravati are all benamis of Naidu who were beneficiaries of land scam during his regime.