Andhra Pradesh farmers Rana Bheri against 3C move

Amaravati: Thousands of farmers, comprising men, women and children, on Sunday took up 'Rana Bheri' programme in Amaravati, beating drums, blowing trumpets and playing cymbals and plates marking the completion of their 250 days of their protest in Amaravati against three capitals move by the government.

All the Opposition parties, including the Telugu Desam Party, the Congress, CPI and CPI (M), extended solidarity with the agitating farmers in various villages. The BJP, however, stayed away from the agitation.

Though all construction activity in the seed capital area had come to a standstill, there is a visible presence of police and private security guards on the roads and at various premises. The incomplete structures in Amaravati wait for someone to give them the final touches and make them livable.

Talking to The Hans India, farmers said that they were pinning their hopes on the High Court, where the issue of three capitals was pending.

The farmers expressed their displeasure over the shifting of stand on the issue of capital by the Bharatiya Janata Party. Initially, the BJP had strongly resisted the decision of the YSRCP government to have three capitals in the name of decentralised administration and demanded that Amaravati should be retained as the capital of Andhra Pradesh.

But, of late, it seems to have changed its stance. The Central party of the BJP seems to have taken a decision not to interfere in the three capitals issue. During the ongoing legal battle between the Amaravati farmers' Joint Action Committee and the state government, it had also filed an affidavit in the state High Court saying that it maintains a neutral stand.