Minister for Education Botcha Satyanarayana grew emotional while referring to the injustice done to North Andhra and Rayalaseema districts, which have remained neglected largely due to the indifference of the successive governments for over five decades.
He participated in a roundtable meeting, organised by the Uttarandhra JAC, in support of decentralisation and making Visakhapatnam as Executive capital of the State, here, on Sunday.
The people of North Andhra never had enough to eat due to lack of irrigation projects in the region. Many people migrated to other regions and to other States in search of employment, Mr. Satyanarayana said. He alleged that Telugu Desam Party(TDP) president N. Chandrababu Naidu with 14 years of experience as the Chief Minister, had sacrificed the interests of the State to benefit some realtors and his acquaintances in Amaravati.
“As a Minister I have to advocate all-round development of the State though I may have a soft corner for North Andhra as I belong to this region. The soft nature of the people of this region has made them easy targets for exploitation. The injustice to North Andhra and Rayalaseema was being continued even after bifurcation,” he said.
“The time has come to give a fitting reply to the ‘vested interests’, who are opposing the development of the region, while benefiting from it. The people of the region should also realise that if they step back at this point of time and let go of the opportunity, they will be doing great injustice to the future generations,” he said.
Executive capital
“Leaders of other parties from this region should also support the plan to make Visakhapatnam as Executive capital as it would propel the growth of the entire State in view of its inherent advantages like connectivity, cosmopolitan culture and ample opportunities for growth. They would be taught a lesson by the people in the next elections, if they failed to do so,” he said.
Reacting to the call given some of the earlier speakers at the roundtable, the Minister, however, said it would be wrong to stop the rally of the Amaravati farmers in North Andhra. He, however, said that people of the region not raising their voice against the single-point demand of making Amaravati sole capital of the State was tantamount to agreeing to their demand and detrimental to the interest of the region.
The Minister suggested to the Uttarandhra JAC to rope in the support of all local associations and organise peaceful protests to oppose the demand of the Amaravati JAC leaders.
Former Vice-Chancellor of Dr. B.R. Ambedkar University, Srikakulam, H. Lajipathi Rai presided.
Earlier, former Vice-Chancellor of Acharya Nagarjuna University V. Balmohan Das, former V-C of Andhra University G.S.N. Raju, A.P. Chamber of Commerce and Industry Federation Pydah Krishna Prasad, a number of Professors, Gurudwara Sadh Sangat president Anand Singh, leaders of various trade unions, academicians and journalists underlined the need to make Visakhapatnam as the Executive capital to attract investments and foster development of the entire State.
Deputy Chief Ministers B. Mutyala Naidu and P. Rajanna Dora, Minister Gudivada Amarnath, MP M.V.V. Satyanarayana, former Minister Muttamsetti Srinivasa Rao, Mayor G. Hari Venkata Kumari and ZP Chairperson J. Subhadra, MLC Varudhu Kalyani and MLA Vasupalli Ganesh Kumar were among those present.
