Rayalaseema intellectuals issue warning to Amaravati farmers

TIRUPATI: The three-capital issue seems to be heading towards an open and direct confrontation with the Rayalaseema Intellectual Forum (RIF) on Tuesday issuing a warning to the Amaravati Parirakshana Samithi Joint Action Committee (APS-JAC) against holding any meeting in Tirupati.

​RIF convener M Purushotham Reddy also said the forum would launch an agitation if the Sri Venkateswara University vice-chancellor permitted the farmers to hold a meeting at the varsity ground. 

The APS-JAC’s ‘padayatra’ entered Chittoor district on Tuesday. It has plans to hold a mega meeting of 50,000 people at the SV university ground. Reddy demanded that the government set up the High Court and develop a permanent capital in the Rayalaseema region in the spirit of the Sribagh pact.

RIF issues stern warning to Amaravati farmers

The 1937 agreement was for the development of Rayalaseema. Addressing a news conference here, the RIF convener said the Sri Krishna Committee had mentioned that Rayalaseema has been deprived of development and it lacked a megacity that could generate employment and opportunities.

“Considering the committee recommendations, if a single megacity is to be established in the State, it should be in the Rayalaseema region,” Reddy said.

“The people of Rayalaseema had sacrificed Madras which was the nearest capital city for the formation of a separate Andhra State, and again the people had sacrificed Kurnool for the formation of the united Andhra Pradesh State,” he pointed out.

Opposing the APS-JAC’s mega meeting plan, Reddy warned the agitating farmers of dire consequences for making provocative statements and insulting the aspirations of the people of the region.

He also rejected the Amaravati farmers’s claimed support of the entire people in Rayalaseema. “Can the support by a section of people and parties be considered as that of the entire Rayalaseema region’s support?” he asked.

RIF leaders pointed out that the people of Rayalaseema and Uttarandhra had sacrificed their lands for major projects. “Thousands of acres were sacrificed by the people of Rayalaseema for the Srisailam project and by Uttarandhra people for the Steel Plant.  What people in ‘Amaravati’ did was a real-estate transaction that will not stand the scrutiny of the law. How can there be a contract between the government and a group of farmers? It is against the law.”