More land on its wish list, TDP govt courts farmers as guests for Amaravati relaunch
Farmers to attend event where PM coming, Andhra CM Chandrababu Naidu, who needs 30,000-40,000 acres for the capital, hails farmers' "sacrifice".
The CM assured the farmers of “equal development” of all regions and also dispelled their fears regarding his government’s move to acquire more land for the airport by comparing it to the one in Hyderabad. (File Photo) Hailing their “sacrifice” in enabling the building of a new capital and with an eye on more land acquisition for an international airport, Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu has invited farmers to attend the May 2 event, where Prime Minister Narendra Modi is set to relaunch the construction of Amaravati.
Over the last two days, Naidu has been interacting with several farmers, who had already pooled in 34,000 acres in 2015 for the construction of the capital. “Those farmers who gave their lands suffered during the previous YSR Congress Party (YSRCP) government, which pushed for a three-capital formula. It was only due to your long struggle that Amaravati could not be destroyed… People from every house and village must attend the historic gathering on May 2, after which the pace of Amaravati’s construction will accelerate,” the CM told the farmers.
After assuming power in 2014, Naidu had announced the setting up of a new capital at Amaravati for truncated Andhra Pradesh. However, the Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy-led YSRCP government shelved the plan and announced a “three-capital formula” citing “decentralised governance”.
Naidu also promised that his government, which is looking to acquire an additional 30,000-40,000 acres through land pooling, would take steps to facilitate loans for returnable plots allotted to farmers, who had donated their lands in 2015 and had ended their over 1,600-day agitation on June 12 last year after the Naidu-led NDA returned to power.
The CM assured the farmers of “equal development” of all regions and also dispelled their fears regarding his government’s move to acquire more land for the airport by comparing it to the one in Hyderabad. “Around 5,000 acres of land was acquired for the Shamshabad airport even as a few people questioned it. However, apart from an international airport, large hotels and malls came up while economic activity flourished. Farmers also benefited as land values also went up. Similarly, additional land would be required in Amaravati for the construction of an airport and a cricket stadium,” he told the farmers, adding that acquisition would be aligned with their interests and wishes.
Allaying fears of the farmers that the prices of land would drop due to additional acquisitions, Naidu said, “There is no distance between me and the farmers. The capital will only expand and attract large investments and companies. Connectivity to other regions will increase through several new bridges on the Krishna, inner and outer ring roads.”
Naidu also agreed to the farmers’ demand of setting up of a memorial to honour those who had lost their lives in the agitation. “We will set up a museum to chronicle the developments of the region from the Satavahana period to the Amaravati movement,” the CM said. Unofficial figures claim over 50 farmers died during the agitation which lasted for over four-and-a-half years.
Claiming that May 2 will mark a turning point in Andhra’s history, Naidu urged the leaders of the NDA to accord a rousing welcome to the PM. “Amaravati is like the soul of the state and a symbol of self-respect for all Telugu people. Like a family dreams of owning a house, a state should have a capital which the people can proudly claim. Telangana gets 70% of its revenue from Hyderabad. Similarly, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu get it from Bengaluru and Chennai. If Andhra has to generate similar revenue, a city needs to be developed and thus Amaravati is being constructed,” he said.
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