Criticising Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy’s plan to have three Capitals for Andhra Pradesh, Communist Party of India State secretary K. Ramakrishna on Monday said the idea was a grave insult to the farmers who sacrificed 33,000 acres of their land for the realisation of the capital at Amaravati.
Addressing a round table organised by the party here, he demanded that the capital be retained at Amaravati. “Instead of creating a rift between people of various regions by raising such issues, the Chief Minister must extend a financial package to the backward areas in northern Andhra Pradesh for its welfare and development,” he said.
Mr. Ramakrishna criticised the comments made by Municipal Administration Minister Botcha Satyanarayana wherein the latter likened the capital city to that of a graveyard.
Various political parties, trade unions and other organisations participated in the round-table extending their support towards retaining the capital at Amaravati.
Kesineni sees problems
Telugu Desam Party Vijayawada MP Kesineni Srinivas said the idea of decentralisation of the Capital would become a massive problem in the future owing to the lack of proper management brought forth by the said decentralisation.
“The people of Amaravati, especially the farmers, put their faith on the previous government and parted with their lands for the construction of the capital. To shift the capital from Amaravati, where many structures and buildings have been established already, to Kurnool and Visakhapatnam is an attack on the farmers,” said Mr. Srinivas.
The Vijayawada MP said that the government could spend an additional ₹2,000 crore to further the capital building here than spend ₹10,000 crore to build the capital from the scratch at Visakhapatnam.
‘Ensure welfare’
Communiuts Party of India (Marxist) State Secretary, P. Madhu said it was the responsibility of the State government to ensure the welfare of their people and not create trouble and uncertainty with such decisions. Mr. Madhu dismissed the findings of the G.N. Rao committee and said that they appeared exactly in line with the thinking of the Chief Minister.
“Visakhapatnam, which is already developed, need not require further development. If the government is concerned about development, it should ensure the development of the backward areas in the northern region of the State,” said Mr. Madhu.
