The A.P. State Amaravati Parirakshana Samiti on Sunday resolved to step up its agitation for retaining Amaravati as one and only capital of the State by forming sub-committees up to the grassroots level.
A resolution proposed by its State convener A. Siva Reddy at a meeting here on Sunday was unanimously adopted.
“We have decided to broad-base the movement by forming joint action committees at the district and Assembly constituency levels,” he said along with its co-convener G. Tirupati Rao as the ‘Save Amaravati, Save Andhra Pradesh’ agitation inched closer to the 400-day mark.
JAC leader P. Sudhakar said it was unfortunate that the ruling YSRCP was belittling the over year-long agitation even after the National Green Tribunal ruled that Amaravati was not flood-prone after studying the flow in the Krishna in the last 100 years.
‘Not casteist’
Denying that the movement was “'casteist,” he said members from all caste groups took part in the agitation.
Members of the other Backward Classes (OBCS) accounted for 27% of the farmers, who had parted with their land for the world-class capital, followed by members of the Kamma community (21%), Scheduled Castes (15%), Reddys (14%) ,Kapus (13%), Muslims (6%) and Scheduled Tribes (3%).
A JAC with leaders cutting across party lines in Prakasam district with N. Venkateswarulu as honorary president was constituted to intensify the struggle.
Taking a cue from the farmers agitating against the farm Acts, the JAC activists from across the State should lay a siege to Amaravati to make the “insensitive” government listen to their just demand, suggested Mr. Venkateswarlu.
Women Writers’ Association State president T. Aruna expressed solidarity with the JAC, especially women farmers, who had boldly come out of their homes to agitate for the State’s cause on a sustained basis.
Castigating the YSRCP government for turning a deaf ear to the JAC’s “just demand,” All India Kisan Sangharsh Coordination Committee Prakasam district convener Ch. Ranga Rao suggested that the agitation should be intensified by organising picketing in front of the offices and residences of ruling party MPs and MLAs.
Congress State vice-president Sripathi Prakasam, CPI Prakasam district secretary M.L. Narayana, CPI(M) district secretary P. Anjaneyulu, Poura Samajam Prakasam district president G. Narasimha Rao were among those who expressed their solidarity with the JAC members from Amaravati, who included K. Sirisha who narrated their tales of woe during the 390 days of struggle.
