Telugu Desam Party(TDP) leaders have demanded scrapping the idea of shifting State Capital from Amaravati to Visakhapatnam, saying travelling thither from the district would be a costly affair not just for the common people but also for the officials.
Former TDP Anantapur Urban MLA Vykuntam Prabhakar Chowdary, joined by his party leaders, sat on a day-long ‘silent protest’ at his residence in the city. After ending his 12-hour protest in the evening, Mr. Chowdary said while all other State capitals in the South will be much closer, Visakhapatnam will be 913 km from Hindupur in the district.
Displaying a distance chart from Anantapur to Pondicherry, Chennai, Bengaluru, Thiruvanantapuram, and Mumbai, Mr. Chowdary and Singanamala TDP in-charge Bandaru Sravani decried the YSR Congress Party’s idea to shift the Capital.
‘Unwise decision’
“If the government thinks there was an insider trading and some TDP leaders had benefited out of the information on Amaravati as Capital, they should punish those involved in it. Why should the people be punished for it?” said Mr. Chowdary.
He added: “Decision on Amaravati as Capital was taken unanimously in the Assembly, and if the YSRCP had any problem with it, they should have contested the choice then itself.”
As per Sribagh Pact, Kurnool should be the Capital and Guntur should get High Court or vice-versa, but shifting the Capital to Visakhapatnam was not a wise decision and it could have political and social implications, he said.
“If we in Rayalaseema start agitation seeking capital at Kurnool, there could be a divide on this issue in the State inviting trouble for everyone;” the TDP leaders said.
