Telugu Desam Party leader challenges government to stop padayatra

The padayatra is being taken up by the farmers and the members of Amaravati JAC from Amaravati to Arasavilli.

Taking strong exception to the comments made by YSR Congress MLAs that the farmers of Amaravati will be held responsible if there is any violence during the course of the Padayatra, TDP’s Mahila wing president and former MLA Vangalapudi Anitha said that there is an element of threat in the statements made.

The padayatra is being taken up by the farmers and the members of Amaravati JAC from Amaravati to Arasavilli and it began at Amaravati on September 12.

Addressing a press conference in Visakhaparnam on Monday, she said there is a veiled threat in the statements made by the YSR Congress leaders and we dare them to stop it or create any violence. “If there is violence, then the State government should be held responsible for disrupting a padayatra, in which the majority of the members are women, who are fighting against the proposed idea of three capitals,” she said.

Ms. Anitha went ahead to say that Chief Minister Jagan Mohan Reddy should stop talking about the three capitals, as it was he who withdrew the ‘Three Capitals Bill’ in the Assembly.

“He [Jagan] is trying to stoke regional divide by again raking up the issue that has already been closed in the Assembly and also by the Andhra Pradesh High Court,” she pointed out.

Apart from the three capitals, there are many issues that can be discussed in the Assembly. There are burning issues pertaining to the teachers, sanitary workers, education and health. Why is the CM and the YSRC leaders focussing only on this issue only? Development has hit a roadblock. There is no investment and investors such as Adani and Lulu have gone back. Let us discuss these issues, she said.

If they [YSRC] are so keen about the three capitals, let them first stop the privatisation of VSP. “Have they ever asked whether the people of Visakhapatnam want the capital here,” she questioned.