Pro-Rayalaseema meet in Tirupati favors three capitals
The Hindu
Speakers at the conclave held at TUDA Maidan observed that decentralized development alone could salvage the Rayalaseema region from decades of exploitation and under-development
The Rayalaseema Development Forums Joint Action Committee, which held a meeting in Tirupati, in support of the Jagan Mohan Reddy move, sought that the executive capital be provided to the Rayalaseema region, as the proposal for High Court in Kurnool was not adequate for the uplift of the region’s backwardness.
Speakers at the conclave held at TUDA Maidan observed that decentralized development alone could salvage the Rayalaseema region from decades of exploitation and under-development. The forum leaders focused on the travails of the region’s people after losing the water projects and state capital as well to other regions, apart from the scourge of farmers’ suicides.
The Rayalaseema Studies Forum convener, Bhuman Subramanyam Reddy, said that the State government's decision to form three capitals was welcome in the interest of the comprehensive development of the State. “Amaravati as capital is detrimental to the interests of the Rayalaseema districts. The idea of forming an executive capital in Rayalaseema is not newly seen in the backdrop of Kurnool becoming one while Guntur served as judicial capital in 1953,” he said. He termed the Amaravati farmers’ struggle as a farce to serve the interests of the real estate business. “It is concerned with just 29 villages, and the farmers there should struggle for compensation for their lands and not for having capital in Amaravati,” he said.
The election authorities are gearing up for the counting of votes cast in the simultaneous elections to Lok Sabha and Assembly seats in Andhra Pradesh, scheduled to be held on June 4. The Collectors and Election Officers of Visakhapatnam, Anakapalli and Alluri Sitharama Raju (ASR) districts said on May 23 (Thursday) that their teams were ready for the counting of votes.
Responding to the prolonged water scarcity, the residents of the area took to the streets in protest on Wednesday. The protest, which drew attention to their plight, stopped only after the intervention of the police. It was not until 1.30 p.m. that a 4000-litre tanker was finally delivered by BWSSB, providing relief to the water-starved residents.