The Amaravati JAC on Wednesday organised a ‘Sankalpa Yatra’ at Thullur village in the capital region coinciding with the 400 days of agitation it is spearheading against the decision to shift the capital to Visakhapatnam.
Several CPI(M) leaders, including its State Secretariat member Ch. Babu Rao, took part in the yatra.
“Amaravati is not the problem of farmers alone. The capital should be retained in Amaravati for administrative convenience,” said Mr. Babu Rao.
If the BJP and the YSRCP were sincere, they should take steps for conducting an inquiry into the irregularities that had allegedly taken place in the capital projects in the past, he said.
“The BJP is trying to stoke caste, communal and regional passions among the people. Both the BJP and the YSRCP are doing injustice to Amaravati. We need to fight against the policies of State and Central governments to save Amaravati,” he said.
Alleging that the BJP was adopting double standards on the Amaravati issue, Mr. Babu Rao said the party, on the one hand, had filed an affidavit in the court that the Centre had no role in deciding the location of the capital, and, on the other, promised to stand by the Amaravati farmers.
The BJP-led government at the Centre deceived the people by not making any allocation for Amaravati, the CPI(M) leader alleged. The Vijayawada Metro Rail, which was part of the AP Reorganisation Act, was put on the backburner, he added.
“No budgetary allocations have been made for the Amaravati railway project in the Union Budget. Also, funds have not been released for the backward Rayalaseema and north coastal Andhra districts,” he alleged.
