It is not wrong to wish that major industries should come to Andhra Pradesh and that large-scale employment opportunities should be created in the state. Making sincere efforts in that direction is certainly commendable. However, the policies being followed to achieve this also matter a lot. Over the past year, the coalition government in Andhra Pradesh has been moving somewhat aggressively when it comes to bringing new industries to the state. However, there are also some criticisms in this regard. When comparing the investments made by the companies coming to the state with the land and incentives being given by the government, there are allegations that these benefits are more advantageous to the companies than to Andhra Pradesh itself. At a time when Nara Lokesh’s comments about Hindi being the national language are creating a stir on social media, a post he made targeting the Karnataka aerospace industry is drawing heavy criticism. Bowing to strong opposition from farmers, the Congress government in Karnataka has withdrawn from land acquisition near the Bengaluru airport for the aerospace park. Initially, the plan was to acquire 1,777 acres in Devanahalli taluk for this park.
In opposition to this, local farmers have been protesting for 1,198 days. Responding to the farmers’ agitation, the government has withdrawn the proposal. Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah officially announced this. He stated that they would only take land from farmers who are willing to give it voluntarily, and they would not take land from those who are unwilling. Related reports were published in the media. Upon seeing this, Andhra Pradesh IT and Education Minister Nara Lokesh made a post on his official Facebook page. The gist of that post is as follows: “Dear Aerospace industry, sorry to hear about this. I have a better idea for you. Why don’t you look at Andhra Pradesh instead? We have an attractive aerospace policy for you, with best-in-class incentives and over 8000 acres of ready-to-use land (just outside Bengaluru)! Hope to see you soon to talk across the table.” There’s nothing wrong in inviting aerospace representatives from Karnataka to Anantapur, which is close to Bengaluru. But when the Karnataka government has taken a decision in favor of farmers, respecting their 1,198-day-long protest, Lokesh’s post — which completely ignores that fact and gives the impression that “it doesn’t matter what happens to farmers as long as industries come” — is drawing criticism. At one point, this same Lokesh branded the Indo-Sol project as a fake company. But now, despite the strong opposition from farmers, the fact that the government is ready to allocate thousands of acres to that same company in Andhra Pradesh is well known. Looking at the approach of Chandrababu Naidu and Nara Lokesh, they are being criticized for acting as though they don’t care what happens to farmers — as long as they can give land to the industries they want.