Amaravati farmers heave a sigh of relief

Vijayawada: The landslide victory of the NDA alliance in Andhra Pradesh has come as a major relief for the farmers of Amaravati who have been relentlessly fighting the concept of three capitals brought in by the outgoing YSRCP government for the past five years.

During the long-drawn fight, many farmers who voluntarily gave land to the government in the hope that they would have a secured future and that the capital city would be developed on par with Hyderabad, committed suicide.

Outgoing Chief Minister Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy and his team of ministers and MLAs called the farmers as ‘paid artists’ and insulted them. Police lathi-charged them and did not allow them even to protest. When they took out padayatra demanding that the capital should not be shifted, they were arrested and put in jail. Women farmers were kicked and mercilessly beaten up.

The YSRCP government even said that they were not genuine farmers and were people belonging to the Kamma community financed by the TDP. But the farmers stood like rock against all conspiracies and intrigues. The TDP and Jana Sena had firmly stood by them. The BJP in the initial stages was not so serious in joining them but after D Purandeswari took charge as the state chief, it actively supported the farmers.

People of Amaravati region villages have given almost 34,000 acres of land for the development of capital. The farmers relinquished their lands under the Land Pooling Scheme (LPS) in 2014 for the construction of the capital city. The LPS was an initiative of then CM Chandrababu Naidu.

Under the LPS, the government had promised a partnership to landowners instead of compensation under the Land Acquisition Act. Originally conceptualised to streamline the establishment of capital and minimise investment in the land acquisition, the LPS assured the farmers developed-returnable plots in the emerging city.

However, the policy was altered when the YSR Congress came to power in 2019. On December 17, 2019, Chief Minister Jagan Mohan Reddu proposed three capitals for the state. But failed to set up even a single capital.

According to the proposal, Visakhapatnam was to be the 'executive capital' of the state, Kurnool 'judicial capital' and Amaravati ‘legislative capital’.