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Guntur: In an open revolt, farmers in Rayapudi village took on the capital land pooling committee on Saturday and curtly told them to leave the village.
In a sarcastic attack on chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu, the farmers also made it clear that they do not want any `Singapore’ in their green fields.
“The chief minister is promising to bring Singapore and Malaysia here. We are proud to be what we are. We do not want to be Singaporeans or Malaysians. We produce 47 varieties of crops while Singapore does not produce even one,“ local leader Harendra said.
Another farmer, Seshagiri Rao, criticised the government for “taking them for granted“ even before consulting them.
“Our children are working in multinational companies in many developed countries.Do you think we are fools to dream about Singapore and part with lands?“ he asked.
He added that farmers do not want to give up their land as they want to remain farmers and not become real estate brokers.
“There is no need for a public hearing here. We are clear in our thought. We do not want to give our lands for Singapore or Malaysia,“ farmers told Tadikonda MLA T Sravan Kumar.
Earlier, tension prevailed in the village as Sravan Kumar’s followers brought along some TDP workers, who clashed with the farmers when they took on the legislator.
Enraged over the attack, the local farmers broke the chairs and removed the tents erected for the public hearing. They also staged a road blockade on the Tulluru-Vijayawada road demanding that all non-locals should leave their village.
Following a heated debate, chief whip in the legislative council, Nannapaneni Rajakumari, left the place in a huff.
Sensing trouble, the MLA urged the farmers to participate in the public hearing and help the government take a decision on the issue. However, the farmers insisted that they would not speak until the non-locals are shunted out of the village.
At one stage, the situation appeared to take a violent turn as more TDP sympathisers arrived.
After an hour of pandemonium, local primary agriculture cooperative society president Mallela Harendranath Chowdary told the MLA that there was no question of parting with even an acre of land for the capital. He said the farmers had held several rounds of discussions and had unanimously resolved against participating in land pooling.
“We have no political divisions in the village on the issue. We have taken a unanimous decision. If anyone wants to give his land, we have no objection,“ he said.
Ryots Cry Foul Over Power Cut During Protest
Power supply was cut off in the entire Tulluru mandal even as the public hearing on land pooling was going on at Rayapudi village on Saturday night.
Following strong protests from farmers in the village, TV channels rushed their OB vans to air the proceedings live. However, even as the protests were on, the entire mandal plunged into darkness.
The supply was not restored till late in the night.Although electricity officials cited some technical snag in the Tadikonda sub-station for the outage, farmers alleged that the ruling TDP leaders were behind the supply disruption.
“They deliberately cut off power supply to save their face. It is not going to give them relief,“ said a farmer, alleging that the supply was disconnected only to prevent the live coverage of the protests.
Source: TimesOfIndia
