Amaravati: Support poured in for Amaravati farmers whose ‘Maha Padayatra 2.0’ entered the third day on Wednesday, demanding the development of Amaravati as the only state capital.
On the third day, farmers and other people from 29 villages of the Amaravati region started the walkathon from Duggirala town. Locals showered petals on the participants to extend their support. People from various walks of life are joining the participants’ enroute and walking along with them for some distance as a mark of solidarity. Leaders and workers of all political parties barring the ruling YSRCP are also supporting the long march.
Holding green color flags and raising slogans of ‘Jai Amaravati’, farmers, agriculture laborers, women, and others are walking along with a specially decorated chariot. Organized by Amaravati Parirakshana Samithi (APS) and the Joint Action Committee (JAC) of Amaravati farmers, the long march began from Venkatapalem on September 12. It coincided with the completion of 1,000 days of their protest against the trifurcation of the state capital.
The padayatra with the slogan ‘Build Amaravati, Save Andhra Pradesh’ is proposed to conclude at Arasavalli in Srikakulam district on November 11 after passing through 16 districts and covering nearly 1,000 km. Meanwhile, participants in padayatra made it clear that they are not against the development of north Andhra as being deliberately projected
by some people. They said their padayatra was aimed at highlighting the plight of farmers and other people of Amaravati who surrendered their lands for the development of Amaravati as the state capital but were betrayed after the government decided to develop three state capitals.
After coming to power in 2019, the YSR Congress Party (YSRCP) government reversed the decision of the previous Telugu Desam Party (TDP) government to develop Amaravati as the only state capital. It decided to develop three state capitals Amaravati, Visakhapatnam, and Kurnool.
Under the three capital formula of the Jagan Mohan Reddy-led government, Visakhapatnam in north coastal Andhra will be developed as the administrative capital, Kurnool in Rayalaseema will be turned into judicial capital while Amaravati in south coastal Andhra will be retained as legislative capital. The ruling party defended the move on the ground that this will ensure decentralization of development.
Last year, the farmers undertook a 45-day long Padyatra from Amaravati to Tirupati. The march titled Nyayasthanam (High Court) to Devasthanam (Tirumala temple) had passed through the Rayalaseema region. The second Maha Padyatra is scheduled to pass through north coastal Andhra.
