TDP national president N. Chandrababu Naidu, along with his family members, visited the Capital region on the New Year day on Wednesday to express his solidarity with the agitating farmers.
Mr. Naidu had earlier given a call to boycott the New Year celebrations, and asked partymen to support the agitation being spearheaded by the Amaravathi Parirakshana Samithi.
Mr. Naidu, along with his wife Bhuvaneswari and brother-in-law N. Ramakrishna, addressed the farmers who had been agitating for the last 13 days at Yerrabalem, Krishnayapalem and Thullur.
Continuing his tirade against the YSRCP government, Mr. Naidu said that it was unfortunate that the farmers had to come onto the streets even on the New Year day.
Vision document
Claiming that he had developed Hyderabad and launched the ‘Vision 2020’ document, Mr. Naidu said his vision of developing a city, Cyberabad, 25 years ago had paid rich dividends as Hyderabad continued to be the economic powerhouse for Telangana.
Mr. Naidu also said that it was due to his efforts that Bill Gates had visited Hyderabad and set up the Microsoft centre in that city.
“After bifurcation, people had voted the TDP to power. Since then, I have been striving to develop the State,” he added.
Dig at Jagan
“When our government was sworn in on June 8, 2014, there was no office. I decided to develop a Capital city, which would be one of the best cities in the world. When I gave a call, the landowners had parted with their land. The farmers had voluntarily given 33,000 acres. In Gannavaram too, the farmers parted with 650 acres. See how many firms have been set up in Amaravati, including HCL. Now, Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy is casting aspersions on me saying that all this has been done for the sake of one community,” said Mr. Naidu.
At Yerrabalem, there were 1,500 Brahmins, 1,400 Yadavas, 600 Gowdas, 1,400 Padmasalis, and just 100 Kammas, he said.
“Mr. Reddy is mooting three Capitals. Is South Africa a model for our State? This government has constituted five committees in the last seven months, and all these committees are aiming at maligning me,” he alleged.
Ms. Bhuvaneswari, who also spoke, said that Mr. Naidu had always strived to develop Amaravati.
“He used to think about Amaravati even when he was sleeping or eating. He dreams of Amaravati as a people’s city. You (the people) have always been important to him. I have always been accorded secondary importance,” she said.
At Durga temple
Later, Mr. Naidu and Ms. Bhuvaneswari offered prayers at the Kanaka Durga temple in Vijayawada.
Later in a tweet, Mr. Naidu said, “The New Year should bring happiness to all sections of society and ensure their safety in all aspects – money, life and respect. The New Year should show a solution to all their problems. Any celebration is meaningful only if everyone is happy. But the farmers in Amaravati are not happy.”
