Rahul Gandhi reminds Centre about unfulfilled commitments made to Andhra during bifurcation

Rahul Gandhi, who was in Adoni in Kurnool as part of his ongoing Bharat Jodo Yatra on Wednesday, said at a news conference: “As far as bifurcation is concerned, certain commitments were made by the Indian Union to the people of Andhra Pradesh. We believe they should be fulfilled. They include special category status. I don’t want to delve into the past.”

Rahul Gandhi backs Amaravati

When asked about the capital for Andhra Pradesh, he reiterated that the three-capitals plan proposed by the ruling YSRCP government in the state was an ineffective idea and that Andhra Pradesh should have only one capital and it should be Amaravati.

He noted that farmers who had given land for Amaravati’s development had met him and added that he had assured them his party would stand with them in these difficult times.

The farmers of Amaravati are on a Maha Padayatra 2.0 to press their demand that Andhra Pradesh should only have a single capital and that it should be at Amaravati.

Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy, the YSRCP supremo, has presented his alternative three-capitals plan, under which while Amaravati would remain the legislative capital, Visakhapatnam would be the “executive capital” and Kurnool the “judicial capital”.

Jagan has dubbed the farmers’ agitation as one orchestrated by real estate developers and backed by the Opposition TDP.

Yatra is tapasya, says Rahul

Earlier in the day, Rahul Gandhi went to offer prayers at the Mahayogi Lakshmamma Avva Temple in Adoni town.

The temple is dedicated to Lakshmamma, also known as Avva, who was born to a poor Dalit family. He had also met the descendants of the first Dalit chief minister of Andhra Pradesh Damodaram Sanjeevaiah who was the first Dalit Congress president in 1962.

Speaking to mediapersons in the afternoon, Rahul Gandhi said: “I’m looking at this yatra as a Tapasya.”

In response to another question, he said: “The BJP’s policies have destroyed the economy” because of the impact of GST and demonetization on small businesses and farmers, and the transfer of capital from small businessmen and farmers into the hands of a few businessmen.

He indirectly mentioned industrialist Gautam Adani saying that one who is close to Prime Minister Narendra Modi had become the world’s third richest man.

Rahul Gandhi also accused political parties in Andhra Pradesh of running themselves like corporates.

Congress routed in Andhra

The Rayalaseema region of Andhra Pradesh, where Rahul Gandhi was walking, was once a bastion of the Congress until the state bifurcation in 2014.

After 2014, the ire of the people over the division of the state was such that Andhra Pradesh has not elect even one Congress MLA or MP.

After the division of the state, the entire Congress vote bank shifted to YSRCP, floated by Jagan Mohan Reddy, son of once-strong Congress leader, YS Rajasekhar Reddy.

Local Congress leaders appear to have put in efforts to make the Andhra Pradesh leg of the Bharat Jodo Yatra a success, given the tremendous response the Yatra received in Kerala and Karnataka. “I am surprised with the tremendous response to the Yatra in Andhra Pradesh too,” he said.

Congress general secretary and MP Jairam Ramesh accused the ruling YSRCP for preventing Congress cadres and the general public from attending Bharat Jodo Yatra.

Currently in Andhra Pradesh, the Bharat Jodo Yatra is a five-month, 3,500 kilometre-long padyatra from Kanyakumari in the south of India to Kashmir in the north. It is part of the party’s national mass outreach programme aimed at highlighting social polarisation, economic inequalities, and political centralisation.

Obviously, YSRCP state government is going out of its way to ensure that the public and media are kept away from #BharatJodoYatra. This morning people were phyically prevented on the way to Adoni. But we will overcome such hurdles, let the CM know.

— Jairam Ramesh (@Jairam_Ramesh) October 19, 2022