Taking strong objection to the decentralisation of administration, Jana Sena Party (JSP) president Pawan Kalyan favoured the location of the capital of Andhra Pradesh at Amaravati and dubbed the proposal to have three capital cities as a ‘divide and rule policy’.
He questioned the reason for Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy supporting Amaravati when he was Leader of the Opposition and now proposing to divide the capital into three parts on the pretext that it would facilitate balanced development of the State.
Addressing mediapersons at the JSP office near Mangalagiri in Guntur district on Monday, Mr. Kalyan said the farmers would not have sacrificed their fertile lands had Mr. Jagan opposed the development of the capital city in Vijayawada-Guntur region, but he extended whole-hearted support to Amaravati on the floor of the Legislative Assembly.
He (the Chief Minister) should remember that the Central government had also welcomed the TDP Government’s proposal to set up the capital in Amaravati, the JSP chief said.
Mr. Kalyan recalled that the previous government refrained from invoking the Land Acquisition Act after he registered his protest with N. Chandrababu Naidu against forcible acquisition of the lands. In that way, Mr. Naidu had respected democracy. Now, Mr. Jagan was doing something farmers would not have even dreamt of, and he appeared to be stubborn on his thinking, Mr. Kalyan said.
Support
The JSP chief further said he would stand by the farmers in this hour of crisis and asserted that they gave their lands to the Government of Andhra Pradesh but not to any particular party.
Mr. Jagan would do well to understand that government was a continuous process and he could not take decisions as per his whims and fancies lest the State should go deeper into trouble, Mr. Kalyan said, seeking to know whether he truly cared for the sentiments of the people of Rayalaseema.
