Andhra farmers travel to Telangana, offer prayers to retain Amaravati as sole capital

A group of farmers and women from the Amaravati region travelled to Medaram village in Telangana on Saturday to attend a tribal festival and offered prayers for Amaravati to be retained as the sole capital of Andhra Pradesh.

They journeyed in a special bus from the Amaravati region in Guntur district of Andhra Pradesh to reached Medaram in Mulugu district of Telangana. The farmers offered prayers to the tribal Goddesses there.

Following local tradition, they took holy dip at Jampanna Vagu and wished that the "Goddesses change the mindset of Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister YS Jaganmohan Reddy and retain Amaravati as the sole capital of Andhra".

The farmers raised slogans "Jai Amaravati".

Medaram Sammakka Saralamma Jatara in Telangana is a fair of tribal Goddesses. It is one of the biggest fairs in India, especially, the biggest tribal fair which attracts lakhs of devotees from all tribal areas of south and central India.

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Amaravati farmers protest

Farmers have been protesting for the past month since Reddy's '3-capital' idea was announced, demanding the government to drop the move to shift the state capital from Amaravati.

Defying the prohibitory order and not heeding the police warning to vacate the place and remove the tents, farmers continued the dharna, holding the national flag, on the main road in the village leading to the state Secretariat.

Moreover, several journalists and a YRSCP MLA too joined the protest and clashed with the police, ahead of the special session.

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Jagan Govt approves Andhra Pradesh's 3 capitals

In a massive development, the Andhra Pradesh government on January 20 approved the 3-city capital plan in the three-day Assembly session called for this issue.

The bills proposing the Secretariat to be situated in Visakhapatnam, High court in Kurnool and State Assembly at Amaravati too has been introduced in the Assembly.

The cabinet meeting chaired by Chief Minister Jagan Mohan Reddy in Amaravati has approved the findings of the report by the High Power Committee constituted to look into the 3-capital recommendations.

Several TDP leaders including the party MPs, MLCs, former ministers and ex-MLAs and key leaders from across the state were placed under house arrest by the police ahead of the session.

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READ | HISTORIC: Jagan Govt Approves Andhra's 3 Capitals- Visakhapatnam, Kurnool & Amaravati

(With inputs from ANI)