Pawan warns Babu on land takeover

Bethapudi (Guntur): Jana Sena Party chief and matinee idol Pawan Kalyan on Thursday warned the Telugu Desam government that he would go on indefinite fast if it tried to forcibly acquire land from the farmers for the proposed capital region. Addressing meetings attended by large gatherings of farmers at Undavalli, Bethapudi, Yerrapalem and Thulluru villages, Pawan Kalyan declared that land acquisition from unwilling farmers would not just happen and that he would step in, in case the government tries to do that.

• Opposes handover of land to MNCs, cites Vanpic case
• Makes a whirlwind tour of villages in capital region
• Ryots vow not to part with their land, come what may

A capital city cannot be built over the tears of small and marginal farmers whose only livelihood is cultivating their small extent of lands, he said. Pawan said he had no problem if the farmers gave away their land voluntarily as it was meant for the capital.Though he was not critical of the land pooling system through which the government had managed to get over 30,000 acres, the popular film actor advised the farmers to form a committee and maintain calm until he announced his future plans.

The Jana Sena leader said he would speak to the Chief Minister and other Ministers about the issues concerning land pooling. He also spoke against giving away huge chunks of land to multinationals that would set up their ventures. He referred to Vanpic lands which were acquired for a purpose but were not used for the declared purpose.

Pawan Kalyan interacted with several men and women farmers and elicited their views. Narayana, a farmer from Bethepudi village, bemoaned that he inherited two acres as ancestral property and that is all he could give to his two sons. “How can the government take away my only property against my will and throw us to the wind. No package is wholesome or equal to what we are getting out of the land,” he said.

Another woman farmer was vociferous in declaring that she would not give her one acre of land at any cost. When suggested by Pawan that the government has an attractive package for them, she retorted, “how can we trust the government? They had acquired lands from us for VUDA housing project and so far have not honoured their commitment to give a plot to the oustees of the project, and then came another acquisition for road expansion programme.

For the past two acquisitions none of the agreements was honoured and how do we trust the government again. How can the government acquire lands for three different purposes three times from the same village?” she asked. The Jana Sena chief declared that he would also fight on behalf of those farmers who parted with their lands if the declared package was not given in time.

He said that until he came to the capital region villages he was under the impression that all was well with the capital pooling but only now he realised that some were vehemently opposing to part with their lands. The Pawan Kalyan juggernaut with a 1,000 motor cycles and cars was the largest ever witnessed in the capital region. The frenzied fans of the Power Star had put up a highly spirited show all along the 50 km route touching the villages of Undavalli to Thulluru. Pawan's fans outnumbered the farmers.