AP State to have three capitals: Bill Passed amidst suspension of Oppostion from Assembly,

Andhra Pradesh: Amaravathi: January 21:The AP State Assembly on Monday late night passed two crucial Bills – Decentralisation of Governance and Inclusive Development of all the Regions of the State of AP and Repeal of the AP Capital Regional Development Act, 2014 – intended to create three capitals, legislative in Amaravati, executive in Visakhapatnam and judicial in Kurnool. This bill was passed amidst furor in the house and suspension of opposition defying the chair and abstraction of Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy’s speech late at night after a day-long debate. The Bill also paves the way for the establishment of Zonal Planning and Development Boards in the State.

Thus perhaps the first time ever in the country, AP state will now have three capitals, ie Vizag, Kurnool, and Amaravathi. The chief minister justifying his decision gave a spirited speech and also played the visuals of the experts’ committee which advocated decentralized development and creation of multiple capital zones. Video clippings of Naidu’s earlier remarks that conveyed that Rs 4,000-5,000 lakh crore was needed for the development of capital were also played in the House and it ended up spending Rs 5,674 crore in five years. Thus with such poor vision Naidu’s project, it will take 100 years to complete the project he added.

He extensively quoted the GN Rao Committee, the Boston Consultancy Group and even the High-Power Committee that recommended measures to undo the mistakes committed in the past by his predecessor  Mr. Chandrababu Naidu who headed the Telugu Desam government. He accused the former CM Babu of insider trading in Amaravati and  TDP leaders have purchased 4,070 acres of land at a cheaper rate in the capital area well before the notification was issued.

Justifying choosing  Visakhapatnam as the executive capital, he said if Amaravathi needs Rs 1 lakh crore to develop infrastructure in an eight km radius of Amaravati, we need just 10 percent of it to develop infrastructure in Visakhapatnam. Within 10 years, we can have a capital city that can compete with Hyderabad.

Earlier  Opposition leader N Chandrababu Naidu said that Amaravati is the most viable option for the capital area, he pleaded with Jagan Mohan with folded hands not to go ahead with shifting the capital from Amaravati as no state progressed with three capitals ever in the past. He alleged such a shifting of capital will not go well and people of the state will suffer.

Earlier in the day, tense situation prevailed outside the Assembly with the Amaravati Parirakshana Samithi, a body of farmers from the capital area, giving a call to lay siege to Assembly protesting the shifting of Secretariat to Visakhapatnam and various political parties extending their support to the agitation. Police resorted to lathi-charge to quell scores of protesters, which included farmers and women, as they tried to lay siege to the Assembly building in Velagapudi.