Tens of thousands of people thronged the otherwise sleepy Inkollu village as the ‘maha padayatra’ launched by the farmers from Amaravati to Tirupati against the government’s move of setting up three capitals resumed after a day’s break on Tuesday.
People from different walks of life including farmers and agricultural labourers took a break from their busy Rabi crop cultivation and accorded a warm welcome to the Amaravati farmers on the dusty lanes of villages en route up to Duddukuru, covering a distance of 15 km.
Women came out of their homes to expressed solidarity with the farmers.
The long march was more orderly when compared to the first day’s proceedings in Prakasam district on Saturday, thanks to elaborate security arrangements made by a posse of police personnel led by Additional Superintendent of Police B. Ravichandra. The police ensured smooth flow of vehicular traffic.
Precautions were taken by the police to avoid mingling of the 157 marching Amaravati farmers with the others.
They ensured that all the conditions laid down by the Andhra Pradesh High Court were complied with during the march led by among others Amaravati Parirakshana Samiti leaders A. Siva Reddy and G. Tirupati Rao. At any given point time, people followed the farmers to a distance of 2 km.
Expressing solidarity with the farmers from the capital region who had parted with their land, their Prakasam counterparts including women broke coconuts and pumpkins seeking the blessings of Lord Venkateswara for the State’s cause.
‘Save Amaravati’ slogan rent the air as many youngsters including students took part in the walkathon. Budding dancers performed ‘Kolatam’ as flower petals were showered on the marching farmers. A large number of people from other places including Visakhapatnam, Guntur, Vijayawada and Hyderabad, joined the farmers on a 45-day walkathon and chipped in with donations.
Activists of the opposition parties including the Telugu Desam Party, Congress, Communist Party of India and CPI (Marxist) expressed their solidarity with the farmers by staging stir against the government’s decision of setting up executive capital in Visakhapatnam, judicial capital in Kurnool and continuing legislative capital at Amaravati.
