At a time when the people in capital villages were agitating against the YSRCP government’s move to decentralise capital amidst police lock-down, people of the city spent most of the time glued to the proceedings of the Assembly on Monday.
The Assembly in the capital region discussed the Andhra Pradesh Decentralisation and Inclusive Development of all Region Bill 2020 and The Andhra Pradesh Capital Region Development Authority Repeal Bill 2020. The live discussion over the Bills by the ruling party members and the Opposition party members were widely viewed on the television sets and mobile phones. Protests were led by the Amaravati Parirakshana Samithi JAC at the Dharna Chowk in the city and protesters were detained by police. At some junctions, traffic flow was obstructed due to police restrictions and motorists had to take longer routes to reach their destinations.
Though the outcome of the discussion was not unexpected, people wanted to know how both the ruling and Opposition parties would substantiate their stands for and against the decentralisation plan respectively.
Some of them kept tracking the proceedings right from the time the session began in the morning to late night when it concluded. The live telecast of the proceedings on YouTube channels also garnered a huge number of views.
‘Govt. ignored protesters’
“The State government completely ignored the protests by the people of Amaravati during the past one month and there was no proper explanation why it had to go with the decentralisation plan. People are actually waiting to hear how the government could justify its decision,” said P. Rama Rao, who was keenly watching the developments on TV at a store.
The city has been an important part of the capital though it is physically not part of the core capital area and witnessed a wide range of development during the past five years.
