TDP's Chandrababu Naidu started Amaravati protest for 'personal interest': Andhra Minister

Andhra Pradesh Agriculture Minister Kurasala Kannababu on Saturday slammed TDP chief N Chandrababu Naidu over the ongoing Amaravati protests and accused him of having ''personal interest'' in the agitation against the decentralisation of the capital.

"In fact, Chandrababu Naidu is the one who is the reason for agitation. He and his party leaders have personal interest in the Amaravati region," Kannababu told the media at Vijayawada.

"...only a bunch of people are behind Chandrababu Naidu and he is portraying as if the entire world is behind Amaravati agitation," he added.

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Defending the YSR government’s move, Kannababu said that Chief Minister YS Jaganmohan Reddy wants to develop all regions and therefore planned to establish Visakhapatnam as executive capital, and Kurnool as judicial capital.

"Chandrababu and TDP leaders are not bothered about the development of other regions. That is why the people have already given a verdict against TDP and Chandrababu Naidu," he added.

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Amaravati protest goes global

Marking 200 days of the Amaravati protest, over 1 lakh Telugu NRIs from USA, UK, Ireland, France, Germany, Saudi Arabia, and other places held a virtual rally on Saturday, urging Andhra Pradesh CM Jagan Mohan Reddy to not scrap his 3-capital plan. Speaking on this occasion, former CM Chandrababu Naidu, urged Reddy to rethink his decision to move the capital from Amaravati. He pointed out that farmers under Amaravati Joint Action Committee (JAC) have been agitating against this move and 66 of them have lost their lives due to this protest.

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The demonstrations started by the residents of 29 villages, demanding the Andhra Pradesh Government to withdraw its decision to decentralise the capital into three, reached 200 days on Saturday and the villagers continued the protest despite the COVID-19 pandemic.

The villagers said that they have sacrificed 34,000 acres of their fertile lands for Amaravati region and want to retain it as the sole capital of the State. They also expressed concerns that if Andhra Pradesh capital is decentralised, the future of the following generations would be "jeopardised".

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(With agency inputs)