Farmers of 29 villages between Guntur and Krishna districts of Andhra Pradesh, who gave land for the proposed Amaravati capital region, courted arrest and blocked main roads on Wednesday in protest against the state government’s proposal to make Visakhapatnam the executive capital. TDP chief and former CM N Chandrababu Naidu, whose government had started the Amaravati capital project, participated in the protests. The YSRCP government has proposed to make Visakhapatnam the executive capital where the Secretariat and the Chief Minister’s Office will be located. Amaravati has been proposed as the legislative capital and Kurnool as the judicial capital. Speaking at the protest venue, Naidu called upon TDP leaders and cadres to abstain from New Year Celebrations and donate the money they would have spent on celebrations to the Amaravati Parirakshana Samiti, which represents the protesting farmers. “These are devastating times for Andhra Pradesh. Instead of solving existing problems, the Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy government is creating new ones, compounding the misery of people. The three capitals announcement has thrust the state into chaos. Thousands of farmers, women and children from all sections are protesting. With hope in their hearts, they gave away land towards construction of Amaravati. Their futures must not be jeopardised,” Naidu said in a statement. Police took several farmers into custody Wednesday. On Tuesday, the farmers had sent a petition to President Ram Nath Kovind, requesting permission for “mercy killing’’. The letter, sent on behalf of the Samiti, stated that the Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy government is pursuing a “policy of revenge” against farmers who gave their land. “Police is also harassing us. We request you to give us permission to kill ourselves. Death is the final form of protest,’’ the letter said. The letter stated that during his election campaign, Jagan had promised to continue the development of Amaravati as the capital. “The YSRCP ministers are mocking us by calling Amaravati a graveyard and issuing useless statements. They are also bringing in caste and other issues into this and harassing us,’’ it stated.
