Various opposition parties and other organisations in Andhra Pradesh have decided to conduct week-long protests starting from December 12 to 17, marking one year for the Amaravati movement. The Amaravati protests will start in Guntur with the protesters padayatra, and a public meeting is also planned to be held at the Amaravati foundation place on December 17.
According to a Deccan Chronicle report, the Amaravati Parirakshana Samithi Joint Action Committee (JAC) conducted a round table meeting in Vijayawada on Thursday, where leaders from the opposition parties, including TDP, Congress and other political parties participated and expressed their support for the Amaravati protests.
As per the report, IUML (Indian Union Muslim League) president Basheer Ahmed from Andhra Pradesh has compared Telangana CM K Chandrasekhar Rao to Y S Jagan. Basheer said that Telangana CM KCR due to his dictatorial administration, had faced humiliating defeats in recent elections, now Jagan would also face a similar situation if Amaravati is not retained as the capital. He further added that Amaravati should be the main capital and the government can start benches in other areas if needed for administrative purposes.
Meanwhile, other political leaders have also asserted the role of women in the Amaravati protests and appealed for their further support as well. The opposition leaders are planning to put pressure on the government through their protests to cancel the decision of three capitals for the state of Andhra Pradesh.
As earlier reported by TNM, on December 17, 2019, Chief Minister Y S Jagan announced the plan of three capitals for the state. Since then, there have been multiple protests at the village level against the decentralisation plan. Meanwhile, the capital shifting process has been halted due to the COVID-19 situation. The state government had plans to shift the executive capital to Vizag by April itself, which got postponed.