VIJAYAWADA: Appealing to Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy to locate capital in Greater Rayalaseema, a delegation of leaders from the region shot off a letter to the former. Recalling that people of Rayalaseema sacrificed Andhra State capital (Kurnool) in the past for unity of Telugu people (during the formation of Andhra Pradesh), they said as the government was proposing decentralisation of administration, it should restore the capital in Rayalaseema.
The open letter, drafted after a meeting of representatives in Hyderabad on Tuesday, was signed by as many as 16 people including two former MPs, two former ministers, three former MLAs, two former DGPs, advocates and others hailing from Rayalaseema region. They described the demand for High Court in Rayalaseema while shifting it to Amaravati from Hyderabad, made by the advocates and students associations, as a minimum desire at that time.
When contacted, former MP MV Mysura Reddy said, “Despite making sacrifices, we (people of Rayalaseema) are deprived of our rights. At the time of State bifurcation, we demanded carving out Greater Rayalaseema state if bifurcation is inevitable.
But it was ignored and the subsequent TDP government had taken a unilateral decision to locate capital in Amaravati. All our appeals were ignored. This time too, as the government itself came up with the idea of three capitals, we are appealing it to locate the administrative capital in Rayalaseema or give separate statehood to the region, he asserted.