Naidu launches Amaravati website to garner public opinion

Vijayawada: TDP supremo and former Chief Minister Nara Chandrababu Naidu, on 24 August, launched a new website, www.apwithamaravati.com, to garner people's opinion on Amaravati as the capital of Andhra Pradesh.

People can tick 'yes' for Amaravati as the only state capital or 'no' if they think otherwise. They can also leave their testimonials on the website. Mr. Naidu claimed that as a responsible political party, the TDP was doing this to empower the people and strengthen their voices at a time when the state was facing a huge danger.

Mr. Naidu criticised Chief Minister Y.S Jagan Mohan Reddy's destructive and conspiratorial strategies to virtually reduce the entire state into a burial ground. In the past 15 months of his rule, Jagan has not ushered any development in any region, the TDP chief claimed, adding he has neither laid a single new road nor taken up a single construction work anywhere.

The TDP chief asserted that the AP government had no legal or moral right to shift the capital out of Amaravati considering that the agreements reached with the farmers were unbreachable. There were conditions laid down that the farmers would have no right to question the government on development works in Amaravati. At the same time, the government would have to fully honour the deal to construct the capital in Amaravati and develop the region. The farmers gave their land for one capital not three, Mr. Naidu claimed.

He asked whether the Jagan Reddy government could give suitable compensation to the farmers as the commercial rates of their lands would go up to as high as Rs. 10 to 12 crore per acre for one project like HappyNest housing complex. Calling the three-capitals plan unreal and impractical, Mr. Naidu said the Chief Minister was bringing all-round devastation to AP. The future of 4.9 crore people was in danger now, he said, adding the YSRCP government has no right to continue in power for five years to crush and destroy the state with its demolition drives.

Stating that breach of trust marked the AP government's actions now, Mr. Naidu said lies, untruths, and betrayals seemed to be the sole motto of Jagan. The CM had promised to develop Amaravati before the elections but started demolishing it after winning the people's mandate, the TDP chief alleged. Also, Jagan is not accepting TDP's demand to seek a fresh mandate on his three-capitals plan and is not even ready for a referendum fearing large-scale opposition from the public, he said.

Mr. Naidu refuted the allegations of caste bias levelled by the YSRCP against the TDP, saying that in his long political career he had never worked for the benefit of one particular community. The ruling party is incapable of bringing any development and in the 15 months since coming to power it has shown no progress, he said, adding instead, it was busy spreading misinformation and organising smear campaigns against Amaravati and the Opposition TDP. Mr. Naidu claimed that by now Amaravati would have emerged as a potential city with a capacity to create Rs. 1 to 2 lakh crore. This would have helped AP develop its capital on an equal footing with Hyderabad, he added.

The TDP supremo alleged that since Jagan became the CM, the state has become a site of destruction, cancellation, and demolition. From the beginning, Jagan tried to tarnish Amaravati by saying it was flood-prone even though the National Green Tribunal had certified that Amaravati faced no such threat, Mr. Naidu said