Amaravati, July 3 Telugu Desam Party President and former Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu on Friday vowed to continue the fight against the YSRCP government's move for trifurcation of the state capital.
The Leader of Opposition said the three capitals idea was flawed and seemed entrenched in the whims and fancies of Chief Minister Y.S. Jaganmohan Reddy.
On the eve of completion of 200 days of protest by farmers of Amaravati against shifting the state capital, Naidu ran a hashtag campaign under the title '200DaysOfAmaravatiProtests'.
He said that with the outbreak of coronavirus, the shifting move will only seem inappropriate and ill-timed considering the plunging industrial and agricultural output. Also, there were problems of rapidly rising unemployment, and failing healthcare systems.
With Saturday marking the completion of 200 days of protests, Naidu said he would like to salute the indomitable spirit of thousands of farmers who have chosen the path of protest to not let the "authoritarian" government put the future of the state at risk.
"The fight will continue and the Telugu Desam will march shoulder to shoulder with the protesting farmers until Amaravati is reinstated as the only capital just as the Chief Minister promised in the assembly when he was in the opposition," said the TDP chief.
He recalled that Amaravati farmers voluntarily contributed their hard-earned 33,000 acres of land and their gesture was lauded by many as a one-of-its-kind initiative in the country.
Naidu said history would be proof that no country or state ever prospered by dividing regions or people. Stating that the idea of Amaravati was born out of the pangs of an unjust bifurcation, he said it was envisioned to unite Telugus and be the building block of a powerful Andhra Pradesh.
"We only had our will, our manpower and the intellectual capital of our people, and we worked hard to build a self-financing capital that generated jobs for the residents and strengthened the economy with generous tax contributions owing to economic activity," he said.
( With inputs from IANS )