The written statement by Union minister of state for home affairs Nityanand Rai in Lok Sabha declaring that Andhra Pradesh has every right to choose the location of its capital has come as a big disappointment and shock to the farmers of Amaravati, who have been pinning their hopes on the Central intervention in the capital issue.
All these days, Telugu Desam Party leaders have been giving an impression to the farmers of Amaravati that the Centre would definitely intervene in the matter and prevail upon the Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy government to withdraw his plan to shift the administrative capital to Visakhapatnam.
Apart from the TDP leaders, even former union minister and BJP MP Sujana Chowdary has been telling that the Centre, which had given huge funds for the development of Amaravati, would not remain blind to the unilateral decision of Jagan to shift the capital.
The TDP leaders also sponsored the visit of a few leaders of Amaravati farmers joint action committee to New Delhi on Tuesday to lobby with various central leaders and see that the capital shift plan of Jagan is scuttled.
The JAC leaders met vice-president M Venkaiah Naidu and several MPs to represent their matter. They were also seeking an appointment with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union home minister Amit Shah to represent their case.
But even before they could meet the top leaders, the statement from the Centre in the Lok Sabha surfaced much to their shock.
Nityanand Rai clearly told the TDP leaders that the Centre had no role to play in the formation or shifting of the capital.
He said while the previous government notified Amaravati as the capital city, the present government chose three capitals for AP.
“It is for each State to decide its capital within its territory,” the minister replied.
So, the Amaravati farmers have nothing else to do but to come to terms with Jagan’s decision and get the best benefit by accepting the offer made by him.