Amaravati farmers vow to intensify agitation against three-capital move by Andhra Pradesh government

The farmers stage a demonstration at Mandadam, marking the completion of 1,300 days of their protest. They accuse the Andhra Pradesh government of suppressing dissenting voices.

The farmers hailing from Amaravati region on July 9 (Sunday) completed 1,300 days of their protests against the proposed shifting of the capital out of Amaravati, amidst the continuing uncertainty on the outcome of the slew of cases pending in courts. 

A large number of farmers staged a demonstration at Mandadam village near the State Secretariat in Guntur district, demanding that the government should at least now withdraw its decision to shift the capital to Visakhapatnam ‘on the pretext of decentralisation’. 

The farmers alleged that the allocation of house sites in the R-5 zone to the Economically Weaker Sections (EWS) from outside Guntur and NTR districts was a ploy to drive a wedge among the people, and by doing so, to complicate the issue further.

The government had been suppressing the dissenting voices but it had to eventually give up as it clearly resorted to the blatant violation of laws and belied the farmers’ legitimate expectations, they insisted. 

The farmers vowed to intensify their agitation in the coming months, saying that they had already waited for a long time in anticipation of a change in the stand taken by Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy. 

Former Ministers Nakka Anand Babu and Vadde Sobhanadreeswara Rao and leaders of the farmers’ association raised slogans denouncing the government’s ‘vindictive attitude’ and hoped that good sense would prevail on Mr. Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy.