Leaders of the TDP-BJP-JSP alliance have lambasted the YSRCP government for “ruining Amaravati” and asserted that it is going to cost the YSRCP dearly in the ensuing elections.
Had the Centre not made it clear that Amaravati would be the capital of Andhra Pradesh, Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy would have implemented his “divisive agenda” without any thought for its consequences, TDP Polit Bureau member Varla Ramaiah said while addressing the press persons on Thursday.
Amaravati had the blessings of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, and the decision to develop a greenfield capital in the Vijayawada-Guntur region was taken on the basis of extensive consultations, and it had the backing of farmers, but for which they would not have parted with 33,000 acres of their fertile lands, Mr. Ramaiah said.
Unfortunately, Mr. Jagan Mohan Reddy had destroyed what would have been a world-class capital city, in the name of three capitals, which never materialised. Mr. Jagan Mohan Reddy was so stubborn that he challenged the High Court order in the Supreme Court and continued to say that he would shift to Visakhapatnam (the executive capital) after the elections. It was sheer arrogance that made Mr. Jagan Mohan Reddy to speak about it time and again before the matter was finally adjudicated, Mr. Ramaiah observed.
A.P. BJP chief spokesperson Lanka Dinakar said Mr. Jagan Mohan Reddy’s concept of decentralisation was flawed, and that the State did not mention the fact that it planned to make Visakhapatnam the executive capital in the affidavit filed by it in the Supreme Court.
The BJP maintained from Day-1 that Amaravati was the capital of A.P. and was still committed to it, whereas Mr. Jagan Mohan Reddy played a cunning political game in the name of three capitals. He cheated the people of Rayalaseema by promising to shift the High Court there. “After coming to power, the TDP-BJP-JSP alliance will put the State back on rails with due priority to rebuilding Amaravati,” Mr. Dinakar added.
JSP general secretary T. Siva Sankar pointed out that the State Legislature unanimously resolved that Amaravati was the capital of A.P. and even Mr. Jagan Mohan Reddy had backed the idea when he was Leader of the Opposition. He changed his stand after becoming the Chief Minister just for the sake of politics.
The reversal of Mr. Jagan Mohan Reddy’s stand on capital had a huge impact on the development of the State as potential investors stayed away from A.P. due to the uncertainty that had since reigned, Mr. Siva Sankar said, adding that voting for the YSRCP for the second time would damage the State beyond repair.
