Tension in Amaravati as protests intensify on 600th day of ‘Save Amaravati’ campaign

Scores of protesters took to the streets of Guntur villages to mark the completion of 600 days since the beginning of the agitations demanding that Amaravati be retained as the sole capital of Andhra Pradesh. Protesters were seen wearing green scarves that have been used to symbolise the Amaravati protests, amid heightened police presence in the villages of Velagapudi, Thullur and other villages that fall under the urban notified area of Amaravati. Protesters had planned to lead a march from the Andhra Pradesh High Court in Nelapadu towards the Lakshmi Narasimha temple in Mangalagiri, but were reportedly denied permission by the police. The Amaravati Protection Committee, as well as the Telugu Desam Party (TDP), had called for protests to mark the 600th day of the Save Amaravati agitations. 

Amid increased police presence, several protesters and TDP leaders were seen confronting police officers and arguing with them to allow the protest marches. In some locations, protesters were seen hitting the barbed wire set up by the police to block their movement with wooden sticks. In a few locations, bike rallies were taken out to mark the occasion. Tension prevailed in Guntur district as several TDP leaders and workers were detained by the police as they raised the ‘Save Amaravati’ slogan. Several TDP leaders, including MLC Nara Lokesh, objected to the government’s attempt to “foil peaceful protests.” Lokesh alleged that police beat up the detained protesters and that male police officers behaved inappropriately with female protesters.  

శాంతియుతంగా నిరసన తెలిపిన ఉద్యమకారులపై పోలీసులు ఉక్కుపాదం మోపారు.వ్యాన్లలో కుక్కారు.సెల్ లో బంధించారు.రైతుల కాళ్లు విరగ్గొట్టారు.మహిళల పట్ల మగపోలీసులు అనుచితంగా ప్రవర్తించారు.ఉద్యమంపై ప్రభుత్వ అణచివేత బయట ప్రపంచానికి తెలియకుండా ఉండేందుకు మీడియా ప్రతినిధుల్ని నిర్బంధించారు.(2/3)

— Lokesh Nara (@naralokesh) August 8, 2021

The Amaravati protests began in December 2019 when Chief Minister Jagan Mohan Reddy first announced the decision to trifurcate the state capital, with the executive capital in Visakhapatnam, legislative capital in Amaravati and judicial capital in Kurnool. However, thousands of farmers and landowners who had given up their land for Amaravati, anticipating developed plots of much higher value in return in a highly developed urban area, were disappointed with the move. While the YSRCP government has accorded the status of legislative capital to Amaravati, protesters have contended that the trifurcation move would effectively move the capital to Vizag, stalling development in the Amaravati region.