KURNOOL: The BJP, which has been backing the ongoing agitation by Rayalaseema advocates demanding that the AP High Court be set up in the region, has now raised another demand: A state second capital in Rayalaseema. A resolution to this effect was passed in the BJP’s Rayalaseema regional meeting held in Kurnool city on Friday. The party was, however, not particular about where the second capital should be located, with many leaders saying it could be in any of the four Rayalaseema districts.
Fifteen other resolutions were passed in the meeting chaired by S Vishnuvardhan Reddy, the state president of the BJP’s youth wing Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha (BJYM). Ruing that Rayalaseema remains neglected even today, Reddy blamed the Chandrababu Naidu-led TDP government for allegedly turning a blind eye to the region.“If the government continues to neglect us, we will have no choice but to demand a separate Rayalaseema State,” a leader told TNIE, complaining about the lack of progress in the region since the bifurcation of the state in 2014. He added that though several assurances were given to the people of Rayalaseema in the TDP’s election manifesto, none of them were implemented.
The saffron leaders went so far as to say that the Chief Minister better announce a statement in favour of the second capital if he wanted to ensure the region’s continued loyalty to Andhra Pradesh. The chorus has also been rising for the construction of the state Assembly, Chief Minister’s residence and Governor’s temporary rest house in the region.
The leaders have also demanded that the state government allocate Rs 20,000 crore of the State Budget to the region. “It should reframe the Rayalaseema Development Board with the allocation of Rs 20,000 crore,” a leader said during the meet, while insisting that the all pending irrigation projects be completed to take care of water scarcity in the drought-hit states.