Tension escalates with police crackdown as protests intensify in Amaravati

Tensions escalated in Amaravati and surrounding areas on Monday as Andhra Pradesh cabinet approved the high-power committee’s report to set up three capitals in the State. Farmers and protestors took to the streets along with the TDP leaders to resent the State Government’s proposal. With the protests rocking Amaravati, the police cracked down on the protestors ahead of the Assembly session and took several politicians and protestors into custody.

Thousands of protesters marched towards the Assembly as part of the ‘Chalo Assembly’ call given by the TDP and the Joint Action Committee. Staging protests, they that Amaravati must be retained as the State’s capital. Tension ensued at Thullur village as several protesters removed police barricades during their march towards the Assembly. According to reports, the local police used force on the protesters in a bid to stop them.

TDP MP Galla Jaydev and party workers and protesters travelling from Prakasam, Guntur, Vijayawada, Krishna, and other districts in the State were detained while Vijayawada MP Kesineni Nani and TDP leaders D Uma Maheswar Rao and Bandaru Satyanarayana Murthy were placed under house arrest.

Taking to Twitter, TDP leader Nara Lokesh wrote, “The YCP leaders had lied that Krishna river will flood Amaravati. But now, the people have truly flooded the Assembly area. Isn’t the dictatorship of government making stubborn decisions, even when women and children are seen to be breaking government restraints?”