Andhra Pradesh could have three capital cities for the north coastal Andhra, central Andhra and Rayalaseema regions as part of a decentralised development plan, chief minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy hinted on Tuesday.
Taking part in a discussion on the state capital issue in the legislative assembly on the last day of the winter session, Jagan said, “Visakhapatnam, which has infrastructure, can be considered for the executive capital without much investment, while the present [capital] Amaravati can be retained as the legislative capital...Kurnool can be considered as the judicial capital. This will give a balanced development.
Before the chief minister made the statement, speaker Tammineni Sitaram suspended nine Telugu Desam Party (TDP) MLAs. The remaining TDP members, led by opposition leader and former chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu, staged a walkout. Soon after his statement, the speaker adjourned the House sine die.
Strongly advocating a decentralised development model, Jagan said a reputed consultancy firm will be engaged to work out details and logistics of the capitals. A decision will be taken after going through the report of the consultancy firm, he said.
In his concluding remarks after the discussion on Amaravati, Jagan said the previous TDP government’s much-talked-about Amaravati project, which entailed a cost of Rs 1.09 lakh crores, was fraught with large-scale irregularities.
{{/usCountry}}In his concluding remarks after the discussion on Amaravati, Jagan said the previous TDP government’s much-talked-about Amaravati project, which entailed a cost of Rs 1.09 lakh crores, was fraught with large-scale irregularities.
{{/usCountry}}Naidu, the TDP president, described Jagan’s proposal as impractical. “How can there be three capital cities for a state? Where does Jagan live – Visakhapatnam or Amaravati or Kurnool? Should people run from one region to another region for their works? Giving power to Jagan is like giving a stone to a mad man,” he said.
He took exception to Jagan making a statement on the capital in the assembly even before an expert committee gave its report. “He is destroying the state with his thoughtless and unilateral decisions,” Naidu added.