An all-party meeting in Anantapur on Tuesday outrightly rejected the proposal of shifting the Executive capital to Visakhapatnam from Amaravati and appealed to the State government not to take capital far away from Rayalaseema districts.
Telugu Desam Party leader Kalava Srinivasulu termed the administration and regime of YSR Congress Party led by Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy akin to Muhammad bin Tughluq’s rule, who was the Sultan of Delhi, and severely criticised the decision of the government to create three capitals. Rayalaseema, which was deprived of its right to have the capital under Sribagh agreement, will now be the farthest from the capital if the administration is run from Visakhapatnam, Mr. Srinivasulu said.
He demanded an all-party meeting be convened even before any decision was taken by the State government. Former Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu had taken a decision to have the capital at Amaravati as it was the most suitable and easily accessible from all areas in the State. Former Anantapur Urban MLA Vykuntam Prabhakar Chowdary said that 35,000 acres were given by residents of 29 villages just because capital city was being developed.
Now the farmers in the region, who had given away their lands, would be the worst affected, said CPI district secretary D. Jagadeesh, who has been made the leader of the joint action committee on ensuring Amaravati as the State capital. The roundtable conference unanimously decided to appeal to the State government and the Governor to ensure the capital is not shifted from Amaravati as some construction work had already begun.
