VIJAYAWADA: Stepping up his fight against the proposal of the YSRC government to shift the capital from Amaravati, TDP supremo N Chandrababu Naidu has demanded that Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy dissolve the Assembly and seek fresh mandate on the issue. If he is voted to power again, the YSRC chief can shift the capital anywhere, Naidu said.
Participating in the public awareness rally on Amaravati organised under the aegis of Amaravati Parirakshana Samithi in Machilipatnam on Thursday, he said YSRC leader Ummareddy Venkateswarlu informed that the capital will remain in Amaravati. But there was no mention of capital in the YSRC election manifesto. So let us go for a referendum on the issue, he asserted.
Naidu who launched a scathing attack against the YSRC government in general and the party’s public representatives from Guntur and Krishna districts in particular on the issue of shifting the capital, gave a call to the people not to cooperate with their MLAs and Ministers and greet them with ‘Jai Amaravati Jai Jai Amaravati’ slogan. He also sought donations from people to support the fight of Amaravati Parirakshana Samithi against shifting of capital. “All political parties except YSRC and all the people’s organisations have come together for the cause of Amaravati. The YSRC government cannot go ahead with its unilateral approach on the issue,’’ he said.
Stating that initially he did not want to attend the rallies, but changed his decision after the government attempted to suppress the movement by not allowing the bus yatra of Amaravati JAC in Vijayawada on Wednesday, he made it clear that the fight for Amaravati would continue until the government dropped the proposal to shift the capital to Visakhapatnam.
Terming the high-powered committee appointed by the government to study the reports of GN Rao Committee and Boston Consulting Group powerless, he said all its members are spineless. “Will your ministers attend the high-powered committee meeting if they have any respect towards you?’’ he questioned.
“Is it not a shame for Perni Nani and Kodali Nani who hail from Krishna district, to be part of the committee intended to shift the capital from your place. The ministers are abusing and ridiculing me. Let them do it but I urge them not to show the ire on Amaravati out of anger against me,’’ he said.
“Do the people of Visakhapatnam ask you for capital? I am so affectionate towards Vizagites and even Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who along with me inspected the city after it was hit by Hudhud cyclone, wondered over the people greeting us waving hands showing victory symbol even at the time of crisis,’’ he said, adding that it all happened because of the trust they got on the government at that time.
Asserting that even common people of Vizag are well aware that the city witnessed development post-Hudhud, he said the previous TDP government announced an action plan for comprehensive development of Visakhapatnam, Kurnool and every district but the present government disturbed it. Exhorting students and youth to actively take part in the agitation, he urged them to explain the benefits of Amaravati as capital to future generations.
Don’t fear of police cases. What can the police do? Yesterday they took us into custody and left us at my residence. What else they can do? Keep us in police station for a day to two? If anyone goes ahead unilaterally, people will revolt. We are in a democracy. This is not Jagan Mohan Reddy’s kingdom,’’ Naidu said.
Stating that he took ‘Joli Pattadam’ (seeking donations) for the first time in his life, he wanted the people to donate generously for the cause of Amaravati. To kill a dog, people will brand it mad. Similarly, the YSRC government is coming up with different arguments like flood-prone, caste equations, insider trading and high expenditure to kill Amaravati project, he added. The TDP chief collected `3,15,480 and a gold ring as donations for the cause of Amaravati.
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