Political parties, cutting across party ideologies, have decided to oppose the attempt of the government to shift the rythu bazaar from Swaraj Maidan and transform the historical grounds into a park. A roundtable organised by the CPI has also decided to meet the district Collector on April 2 and submit a memorandum to him in this regard.
“The meeting has resolved to conduct a signature campaign on April 3 and take out a rally on April 4,” said CPI city secretary Donepudi Sankar.
Only lung space in city: CPI leader
Mr. Sankar said that under the garb of security threat, the district administration was encroaching upon the ground, which provides lung space for the crammed city.
Mr. Sankar said that Swaraj Maidan was known to be the destination for several social, devotional, political, and government-sponsored meetings.
The ground acquired the name Swaraj Maidan as Mahatma Gandhi addressed people there as part of the freedom struggle in the 1920s.
“How can security be enhanced by developing a park where hundreds of people throng in the evenings to unwind?” questioned Mr. Sankar.
Women will be put to hardship: Vishnu
City Congress president and former MLA Malladi Vishnu said that by shifting the rythu bazaar thousands of women would be put to hardship.
“People would be subjected to more misery if the bazaar is shifted to a place near the Ryve’s Canal,” he said.
Swaraj Maidan is the place where book exhibitions, industrial exhibitions, trade fairs, and entertainment events like circus are organised.
“The administration in the 80s tried to construct police quarters at Swaraj Maidan. But public outcry forced the government to withdraw the move. How can the administration dismantle dozens of shops construed by spending Rs.1.5 core?” he asked.
CPI(M) city secretary D. Kasinath said that parties should unite to thwart the attempt of the government. “We will be left with no place to organise public meetings,” he said.
‘Not a suitable location’
The move would hit small traders and the Ryve’s Canal bund stretch was not suitable locating a rythu bazaar.
Leaders from Bhahujan Samaj Party and others associations affiliated to the Left parties, including women’s organisations, took part in the conference.
