Naidu usurping fertile lands: Jagan

Women accord rousing reception to Leader of Opposition

Undavalli (Guntur): YSRCP president and Leader of the Opposition Y S Jaganmohan Reddy on Tuesday lashed out at Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu for trying to “snatch” fertile lands on the riverfront villages under the guise of building a modern capital city. He was particularly vehement in his criticism because the Naidu had resorted to strong-arm tactics to force the farmers to surrender their lands and thus depriving them of their livelihood. Kickstarting his whirlwind visit in 10 villages in Tadepalli, Mangalagiri and Thullur mandals from Undavalli village 30 km from here, Jagan said the TDP would be decimated if elections were held now. He also expressed scepticism whether the Naidu government would survive for two years. He promised to return the acquired lands to the farmers if the people voted out Naidu and voted him to power.

The YSRCP president who came by road from Hyderabad arrived at 10 am at Undavalli village where farmers were still offering spirited resistance to the tactics adopted by the government to “snatch” their lands. They signed Form number 92, expressing their unwillingness to part with their lands. Jagan felt that Vinukonda, having 20,000 acres of government and some forest land would have been the ideal place for building capital city. He took the Chief Minister to task for opting for riverfront villages to build capital city basing on “some vastu predictions.” This had led to thousands of farmers being deprived of their livelihood, he said. A large number of women sought the help of Jagan to lead an agitation against the State government which, they said, was snatching their livelihood. The women expressed their anguish over Naidu trying to help the realtors and corporate firms by grabbing their land.

Malleswaramma, a farmworker, who spoke at the meeting in Undavalli, said that she and her husband earned Rs 300 and Rs 500 respectively a day and Rs 25,000 a month. With the land being taken away by the government, they would be deprived of their livelihood, she said. Jagan said Naidu government was trying to give a pittance of Rs 2,500 pension to the family against a guaranteed monthly income of Rs 25,000 a month. Several women openly spoke against the TDP government's grandiose plan of building a Singapore type city by paying the high price of inviting the wrath of hundreds of farmers.