- Farmers of Amaravati preparing for Maha Padayatra
- Three capitals bill before the assembly at the same time as the padayatra
The movement of the farmers of the area to keep Amaravati as the state capital is reaching another milestone. On September 12th, on the occasion of the completion of a thousand days, the farmers embarked on a grand march. From Amaravati in Guntur district to Arasavalli in Srikakulam district, the farmers of the capital started a yatra which has become a topic of discussion across the state. The government and the courts have issued different orders on this matter. The police department refused permission citing the issue of law and order. Soon after, farmers knocked on the court’s door and the Mahapadayatra was allowed amid dramatic developments. With this, this controversy came to an end.
Movement for a thousand days
On December 17, 2019, Chief Minister YS Jaganmohan Reddy announced in the Assembly that three capital cities are going to be established for the state. The Telugu Desam government that came to power after the division of the state decided to make Amaravati the capital by combining several mandals in Guntur and Krishna districts. However, the subsequent YSRCP government countered by terming the government building constructions undertaken in Amaravati as ‘temporary’. Since that day, the movement started by the farmers of the capital villages has been going on for a thousand days.
Decentralization is our goal..
CM Jagan announced in the assembly that the centralization of governance is the reason for the division of the state, hence it has been decided to decentralize the governance in Andhra Pradesh. He made it clear that Amaravati will be maintained as the legislative capital while Visakhapatnam will be developed as the administrative capital and Kurnool as the judicial capital. However, the propaganda of all the opposition parties saying that they are moving the capital established in Amaravati, started the agitation movement among the farmers who were given land. Since then, court hearings and government evacuation efforts have been going on for three years. After withdrawing the capital bill as a witness of the assembly and filing an affidavit in the High Court to that effect, the government is preparing to introduce a new three capital bill in the upcoming assembly sessions.
Yatra amid police restrictions..
The Amaravati Conservation Committee asked the police to allow the march, but the DGP refused, saying it would disturb peace and order. He reminded that last year’s yatra from Amaravati to Tirupati was allowed with the conditions of the court order. He said that there is a possibility of such incidents happening even now. The next day, the farmers filed a petition in the High Court, where the farmers filed a petition in the High Court the day after the DGP said that the yatra would go through Konaseema, where tensions had arisen recently, and even if a small fight took place there, it would become a big problem and disrupt law and order. The court ordered the farmers to apply now for the permission of the public meeting on the day of the padayatra, saying that the padayatra will continue with limited restrictions. While the padayatra was supposed to start on 12th of this month, the farmers’ leaders got stuck in the arrangements. However, the government is preparing to introduce the bill for three capitals in the assembly sessions to be held from September 15. On the one hand, while the march continues, the bill coming before the House is being discussed across the state.
