Hyderabad: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday lashed out at the Congress for trying to sow the seeds of dissent among youth of Andhra Pradesh post the bifurcation, and assured the state of implementing whatever mentioned in the AP Reorganisation Act to the last letter.
“The previous government (the Congress) was in a hurry to gain political mileage and divided the state, much to the chagrin of the Telugu-speaking people. I assure that we will implement to the last letter whatever was mentioned in the AP Reorganisation Act,” Modi said.
Laying the foundation for Andhra Pradesh’s new capital Amaravati at Uddandarayunipalem village in Guntur district, the Prime Minister said his government would see that Andhra Pradesh became the human resources capital of India.
“Our government has allotted central institutions like IIT, IIIT and AIMS to improve human resources in Andhra Pradesh. The startup programme launched by the central government is being taken forward both by Andhra Pradesh and Telangana. Be it AP or Telangana, the soul is Telugu,” he said.
Reciting the first stanza of renowned Telugu poet and lyricist Sri Sri’s poem Nenu Saitham Prapanchagniki Samidhanokkati Aahutichchanu (I, too, have been the fuel for this great activity of building up the world) in Telugu amid loud applause by the gathering, the Prime Minister handed over the soil and water that he brought from the Parliament complex and River Yamuna respectively, to Andhra Pradesh chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu.
Union minister of urban development, M Venkaiah Naidu, provided the Telugu translation to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s speech.
The Andhra Pradesh government has collected soil and water from 16,000 villages in the state and prominent pilgrim centres across the country, including from Telangana, to Amaravati for using in its construction.
“The reason why I brought soil from the People’s Temple (Parliament) and River Yamuna is that they are sacred. And, when I handed over them to Naidu, its like the Centre’s capital itself being merged with AP’s new capital,” the Prime Minister said.
Touted to be modeled on the lines of Singapore, the Amaravati capital is expected to be spread across 16 square kilometre, catering to a population of close to 11 million. The proposed greenfield capital, which will have an open and green space of 40 per cent, will create employment to around three million.
Stating that the Centre would match every step made by the Andhra Pradesh government in making sure the growth of its new capital, Modi said his government would extend its full support for the overall development of both the Telugu-speaking states of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana. “The Naidu-Modi jodi (duo) is sure to turn everybody’s dreams into reality,” he said.
On Naidu’s personal invitation, his arch rival and chief minister of Telangana, K Chandrasekhara Rao, attended the foundation laying ceremony and assured all help from the Telangana government for the development of the Amaravati capital region.
Speaking on the occasion, chief minister Naidu said soil from Bodh Gaya and several shrines, and water from all the rivers across the country had been brought to the capital region.
“Nine cities will be created around Amaravati,” he said, while thanking the farmers for voluntarily giving close to 33,000 acre as part of the land pooling scheme for the construction of the proposed state capital.
