Minister for Education, Botsa Satyanarayana, on Tuesday predicted that the Amaravati farmers’ padayatra would not resume. He said that the padayatra is closed once for all.

The Minister said that the court had given permission to 600 farmers to participate in the padayatra showing their identification cards to the police. However, it was found that only 70 farmers have the identification cards while the rest are from other places, the minister said.

The police have tried to implement the high court direction following which the farmers withdrew their padayatra, he said. He further added that the court had also directed the police to ensure that only farmers participated in the padayatra, while others remained on the road margin.

The court had categorically told the police not to allow outsiders in the padayatra and ensure that every participant carried the identification card. The court had earlier issued permission for the padayatra with the condition of 600 participants carrying their identification cards.

The court intervened as the DGP denied permission for the padayatra on the ground that in the earlier padayatra to Tirupati, there were 70 criminal cases filed against the padayatra participants. The DGP also quoted the sentiments of the Uttarandhra people on having Visakhapatnam as the executive capital of the state and Amaravati padayatra might lead to law-and-order problems.

However, the court directed the police to take care of the law-and-order problem and gave permission to the farmers, the minister recalled.

He also told the media persons that the Joint Action Committee would soon come out with an action plan to press for Visakhapatnam as the executive capital. The JAC would give a road map for the supporters of decentralisation of administration, the minister said.