Intensifying their agitation against the acquisition of their lands for the proposed Andhra Pradesh Capital Amaravati, thousands of farmers from Guntur districts on Friday held a demonstration in Vijayawada shouting slogans against the State Government.
The farmers gathered at office of Andhra Pradesh Capital region development authority in Vijayawada and staged a sit-in protest asking it to desist from forcibly acquiring more lands.
Apart from the left parties CPI and CPI(M), the protest was also supported by YSR Congress Party and Congress party who were opposing any more acquisition of lands on the ground that these were fertile multi-crop lands and their acquisition will hurt the livelihood of thousands of farmers.
Though it has already pooled more than 33,000 acres in Guntur districts for building the new Capital based on a master plan prepared by Singapore Government, Andhra Pradesh Government was further planning to acquire another 2,500 acres of land under the land Acquisition Act.
The plans have also run into resistance from the main Opposition YSR Congress Party of Jaganmohan Reddy as an ally the film star Pawan Kalyan, who heads Jana Sena Party.
In a series of tweet Pawan Kalyan has asked Chandrababu Naidu Government not to invoke land Acquisition Act for taking over the lands of farmers against their wishes.
However, the State Government appears in no mood to relent on the issue. Even as the protest was on, in Guntur the District Collector Kantilal Dande issued a notification for acquiring 904 acres of land in 29 villages. Some farmers in these villages have already surrendered their lands under the land pooling, others who have refused to do so were now facing the Government heat.
The opposition to land acquisition plan by film star Pawan Kalyan has peeved ruling Telugu Desam party. The popular star has even threatened to go on fast unto death.
State Finance Minister Y Ramakrishnudu in a retort to the actor’s comments reminded him that even film industry was allotted land in the past for its development. To this the star quipped, “It was not allotted any fertile agriculture land.”