It appears the Chandrababu Naidu government in Andhra Pradesh is hell bent on forcibly acquiring the lands of farmers of Vundavalli, Penumaka and Tadepalli villages for the capital city of Amaravati, without even paying heed to their problems.

The farmers of these villages, under the leadership of YSR Congress party MLA from Mangalagiri Alla Ramakrishna Reddy, have refused to surrender their lands to the government under land pooling scheme.

As a result, the Naidu government invoked the Land Acquisition Act, 2013 to acquire their lands, but the farmers are strongly resisting the government’s move.

As per the Act, the government has to call for meetings of the farmers and record their objections, if any, for acquiring their lands. If two-thirds of the farmers oppose the land acquisition, the government cannot take over their lands.

But on Tuesday, the officials of the Capital Region Development Authority who held a meeting of farmers refused to record the objections of the farmers but only decided to hear them. This resulted in a chaotic situation.

Ramakirshna Reddy, who asked the officials to record the statements, was furious when they refused to listen to him.

As a result, he shouted at them and pushed the table on the dais. He asked his followers to ransack the place to register their protests. They broke the chairs and pulled down the tent, creating a ruckus. The police entered the scene and brought the situation under control.