Rayalaseema Vidyavantula Vedika (RVV)today called upon the people of the region to boycott the Amaravati foundation stone laying ceremony scheduled on October 22, 2015. Issuing a statement, the Kunool district unit of RVV said they had decided to stage a dharna on at 11 am on Vijayadasami day protesting the denial of capital city to the region.

“As per the Sri Bagh pact, the capital should be located in Rayalaseema. It was indeed located in Kurnool in 1953 when Andhra state was carved out of Telugu areas of composite Madras state. The region sacrificed the capital for the sake of the unity of Telugu people in 1956,when Andhra Pradesh was created by merging Andhra state and Hyderabad state. Since the Andhra state is  restored again after the bifurcation, capital should be restored to Kurnool. Shifting the capital to fertile lands of Amaravati region is betrayal of Rayalaseema,” Arun Sarma, a spokesperson of RVV, noted writer from the region , said. While denying water and funds for Rayalaseema, Arun said, the state government was spending public money like water on a ceremony that lasts just few hours. ” Laying foundation stone for Amaravati will bury the hopes of Rayalaseema once for all. This wound inflicted on the region won’t heal up,” he said.

Under these circumstances, Arun said, they RVV had no option but to demand separate Rayalaseema state to chart an independence course in future. He urged the people to participate in the dharna in a big way.