Andhra Pradesh Congress Committee (APCC) president Gidugu Rudra Raju has requested All-India Congress Committee (AICC) general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra to visit Andhra Pradesh and attend a public meeting proposed to be organised in support of its demand that Amaravati be retained as the capital of the State.
Mr. Rudra Raju submitted a representation to this effect to Ms. Priyanka Gandhi during her transit halt at Gannavaram airport on November 25 (Saturday) on her way to Delhi after canvassing for the Congress candidate in Madhira Assembly constituency in Khammam district of Telangana.
Ms. Priyanka Gandhi arrived at the airport to a warm welcome by Mr. Rudra Raju, former Union Minister J.D. Seelam, and State working presidents Sunkara Padmasree and Mastan Vali.
Mr. Rudra Raju presented a shawl to Ms. Priyanka and submitted a representation drawing her attention to the gross injustice meted out to Andhra Pradesh post-bifurcation in 2014.
He said several promises made in the A.P. Reorganisation Act were not honoured by the NDA Government. In the State, both, the TDP and the YSR Congress Party had their own axe to grind, and did not bother to honour the wishes of the people, he said.
He said Andhra Pradesh faced a peculiar situation with no capital for the last 10 years. The TDP government had declared Amaravati as the new capital of the residual State but did not develop infrastructure during its rule. The YSR Congress Party government’s three-capital formula left the State without a capital, he said.
Mr. Rudra Raju said people of the State wanted Amaravati to continue as the State capital, and several sections had been staging protests in support of the demand.
He said the party proposed to conduct the public meeting in Amaravati in December, or in January 2024.
