Cabinet meet on Dec 27 in Amaravati, not in Vizag

Amaravati: Ending to the speculations on conducting the cabinet meeting in Visakhapatnam, the authorities in the Secretariat have informed that it will be conducted at Vijayawada.

In fact, there were speculations that the cabinet meeting on December 27 will take place in Vizag as the capital region farmers have been organizing protests against the state government and Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy, who announced the idea of having three capitals to the state and shifting the secretariat from here.

Meanwhile, the Tullur Police issued notices to the residents at Mandadam village near the Secretariat at Velagapudi by saying that, on the day of December 27, the police will not allow any kind of protests and outers in the village as the Cabinet meeting is scheduled. Further, the police stated that the residents should not allow anybody into their houses on that day, other than the family members of the residents, informed the farmers at Mandadam.

S Narayana, a farmer at the village informed that police informed that they won't allow us to continue the peaceful protest on that day as Chief Minister, Ministers and other bureaucrats are attending the cabinet meeting and all of them will go through the village from Vijayawada, Guntur and other places.

On the other hand, the intelligence officials informed that there were chances to shift the venue from Secretariat to a private hotel or function hall in Vijayawada if the situation is sensitive and tense in the villages.

This cabinet meeting gained a lot of importance, as the ministers like Botsa Satyanarayana and others repeatedly hinted that the government will announce its final and crucial decision after concluding the cabinet meeting, regarding the GN Rao Committee recommendations. Based on this Committee recommendations, the government is proposing to shift the capital from Amaravati and also trying to establish three capitals, each at Kurnool, Amaravati and Vizag.

Reacting to a question, the officials at Chief Minister's Office informed that, though the venue is yet to finalize, the cabinet meeting likely will be conducted in Vijayawada city itself.

When the arrangements for the cabinet meeting are taking place like this, the farmers in the villages observed that they will place block flags on all the streets on that day, in 29 villages of the capital city Amaravati and surrounding villages.