By IANS
Hyderabad : The Left parties in Andhra Pradesh Thursday intensified their agitation seeking land for the poor with hundreds of party workers and supporters occupying government land at several places across the state.
Tension prevailed in some areas as activists of the Communist Party of India (CPI) and The Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) pitched red flags on the plots and even erected temporary structures.
The protestors including a large number of women squatted on the plots, demarcated the ‘house sites’ for themselves and erected huts. The agitation led to clashes with police at a few places like Warangal.
Thursday was the second day of the second phase of bhuporatam or land agitation seeking land and house sites for the landless poor. Scores of protestors were arrested in different districts.
CPI state secretary K. Narayana and CPI-M’s floor leader in the state assembly N. Narasimaiah were among the top leaders who took part in the agitation.
CPI-M workers also occupied 150 acres of land in Mahindra Hills in the state capital. A large number of women were seen cooking food and attending to their daily chores on the occupied plots of land.
Narasimaiah said the agitation would continue till all landless poor get land and house sites in the state. He said the agitation would be intensified if the Congress government in the state failed to constitute a land commission for distribution of land among the poor.
The Left parties have been agitating on the issue for the last three months.
The protest had turned violent July 28 when seven CPI-M workers were killed in police firing during the first phase of the agitation at Mudigonda in Khammam district.
The main opposition Telugu Desam Party (TDP) also took part in the agitation in Warangal district. Police arrested a few leaders of the party.
Meanwhile, in an attempt to counter the agitation, Chief Minister Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy Thursday directed officials to expedite the construction of houses under the Indiramma housing scheme.
He held a video conference with the district collectors and asked them to ensure that all deserving poor were benefited by the scheme. He said 2.4 million houses were being built under the scheme and a million houses were ready. The houses would be handed over to the beneficiaries in October.
The chief minister, however, has already turned down the demand for a land commission. Criticising the Left parties, he said there was no need for the agitation as his government had taken up land distribution and construction of houses on a scale never seen before.