Amaravathi: TDP chief, Leader of Opposition in Assembly and former chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu is now asking for referendum on Amaravati.
He wants the government to hold referendum on decentralisation of capitals by the present government.
Chandrababu Naidu dared his successor Jagan Mohan Reddy to go for referendum on three capitals issue and said he would remain silent if referendum was in its favour.
There are two issues in the TDP chief’s demand.
The first one is did he conducted referendum on selecting the 29 villages for the capital and naming them as Amaravati? Was there no opposition to Amaravati location in 2014-17? Were there no cases in the National Green Tribunal? On what basis did Naidu select this place for the capital? Which expert committee recommended this area, if there was no referendum?
The second issue is, do we have the practice of going for referendum in India on any issue, just because a political asked for it? Was there any incident or issue where the government went for referendum before taking a final call?
The TDP chief and his media is doing everything to save Amaravati and it only increases doubts of the people, on the allegations of insider trading.
How much did Naidu and his men invest in Amaravati? What are their financial obligations connected to these 29 villages of the capital city and 30 revenue mandals of the capital region spread over Krishna and Guntur districts?
The more Chandrababu Naidu and his men talk about Amaravati, the more doubts are coming to the people on his interests.
It was Chandrababu Naidu who suppressed every voice, including those of environmentalists and social activists, besides the National Green Tribunal, when he zeroed in on Amaravati in December 2014.
He did not allow people to take out protest rallies or hold protest meetings in those days.
Chandrababu Naidu did not even hold an all-party meeting to finalise the capital city and capital region.
To some extent, this government is better as it is allowing people to hold protests in the capital villages and outside.
Were there any protests allowed in any of these 29 villages during Chandrababu Naidu tenure?
Where is the room for referendum? Where is the precedency in the country for such a referendum?
Be it a nuclear power plant in Kudankulam in Tamil Nadu or the demonetisation then and CAA now, do we have the practice of referendum or at least holding consultations?
It is high time that Naidu and his men stop making hue and cry for Amaravati, as people are thinking seriously on the insider trading alleged against the TDP.
