VIJAYAWADA: The pro-Amaravati farmers adopted “guerrilla tactics” in their final attempt to lay a siege to the Assembly and reached near the Assembly gate through tiny paths in the farmlands.
The farmers in small groups walked through the farmlands and one group reached near the main gate where they squatted shouting slogans demanding the cancellation of the capital relocation and continuation of Amaravati as the sole capital of the state.
The farmers protested for three hours in the farmland adjacent to a drainage canal and at Mandadam. Another group came to the backside of the Assembly but the police foiled the attempt. Some 8,000 police personnel were deployed in Velgapudi, Mandadam, Thullur, Rayapudi, Krishnayapalem, Uddandarayunipalem and adjacent villages of Amaravati. The police had tightened security in the Amaravati villages on Sunday to foil the Assembly siege bid. The farmers with women and children went to the farmlands at Thullur village and waited for the outcome of the cabinet meeting on the capital. After coming to know about the passing of the high-power committee report recommending distributed capitals proposal at 10 am, they decided to conduct an Assembly siege and planned to walk in the farmlands through Nelapadu to Velagapudi to reach the Assembly.
The farmers holding national flags walked through the barren farmlands in small groups to reach their destination by diverting the attention of the police. One main group targeted to reach the Assembly main gate and another to reach there from the backside as the police were not familiar with the shortcuts connecting villages.
Guntur MP Galla Jayadev joined a team of farmers but the police led by Guntur rural SP Ch Vijaya Rao stopped them on the backside of the secretariat. He and other leaders were arrested and shifted to Guntur and the farmers were sent back to their villages. But the other group of farmers reached the barren land near the Assembly main gate road but they stayed there due to the presence of a drainage canal. The police along with revenue officials reached the spot and appealed to them on the public address system not to violate law and order. But some protesters entered the canal to go to the Assembly but the police did not allow them.
The protesters remained there for three hours shouting slogans against chief minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy and the government. As they squatted on the road, the police resorted to a minor lathicharge and shifted the protesters to the police station.
