Andhra HC Permits Amaravati Farmers To Hold Public Meeting In Tirupati

The Andhra Pradesh High Court has granted permission to Amaravati farmers to hold a public meeting in Tirupati on December 17.

Andhra Pradesh High Court (File Photo)

Hyderabad: The high court of Andhra Pradesh permitted Amaravati farmers to have a public assembly in Tirupati on December 17.

Amaravati farmers staged protests against the proposal of three capitals in the state and demanded that Amaravati be retained as the only state capital of Andhra Pradesh. The farmers starting their 'Maha Padayatra' from Tulluru in the Guntur district on November 1 have ended it in Tirupati. On the occasion of ending a successful rally after 45 days, the state farmers to hold a public meeting in Tirupati on December 17.

The Amaravati Parirakshana Samithi and the Amaravati Joint Action Committee sought to have a public gathering on the last day of 'Maha Padyatra,' but the Chittoor district police refused.

However, they have approached the High Court seeking permission for the meeting. Posani Venkateshwarlu and Lakshminarayana petitioned in the High Court to allow the public meeting to proceed as per the Covid protocol.

On the flip side, additional Advocate General P Sudhakar Reddy told the court that permitting the public meeting could lead to clashes on regional lines. Specific video footage of farmers reportedly fighting police during the rally was brought to the court's attention. After hearing the arguments of the two, the court gave a nod to the farmers to hold a meeting on Friday.

Earlier, The Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanam permitted the Amaravati farmers to have darshans on Wednesday and Thursday. In this context, the TTD has instructed farmers to follow Covid regulations.

The padayatra proceeded for about 500 kilometres across the AP districts of Guntur, Prakasam, Nellore, and Chittoor. 

Farmers from 29 villages in the Amaravati region have been protesting for more than 700 days over the government's decision to give 33,000 acres of land to develop the state capital while the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) was in power. They want Amaravati to become the state's sole capital.

(With inputs from ABP Desam — It is a Telugu platform of ABP News. For more news, commentary and latest happenings from two Telugu states, follow https://telugu.abplive.com/)