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No solution to Andhra Pradesh capital row in sight
A Supreme Court bench comprising justices Sanjeev Khanna and Bela M Trivedi has declared Amaravati as the only capital of the state, saying there was no urgency in hearing the case
Hyderabad: The fate of the capital city for Andhra Pradesh continues to hang in balance, as the Supreme Court last week deferred to December the hearing on whether the state would have a single capital at Amaravati or three capitals as proposed by the Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy government. With this, Andhra Pradesh is unlikely to have a capital before the upcoming assembly elections later this year.
A Supreme Court bench comprising justices Sanjeev Khanna and Bela M Trivedi, which was hearing a special leave petition of the Jagan government challenging the Andhra Pradesh high court judgement of March 3, 2022, declaring Amaravati as the only capital of the state, said there was no urgency in hearing the case.
The decision of the apex court to defer the hearing comes a setback for the chief minister’s ambitious plan to create three capitals for Andhra Pradesh – executive capital at Visakhapatnam, judicial capital at Kurnool and legislative capital in Amaravati – before the completion of his tenure in May 2024.
“The Supreme Court has not fixed any specific date for hearing in December. Even if it takes up the hearing then, it will continue for at least three to four months because there are a lot of legal complications in the issue. So, it is unlikely that the judgement will be delivered before April or May, by which time, the state would plunge into election mode,” a senior YSR Congress party (YSRCP) leader, seeking anonymity, said.
The YSRCP leader added that if the party comes back to power, the state government would vigorously pursue the case. “But if the opposition comes to power, it will withdraw the SLP in the Supreme Court and the issue will come back to square one,” he said.
However, Jagan is keen on shifting at least the chief minister’s office (CMO), if not the entire state administration, to Visakhapatnam, irrespective of the verdict of the Supreme Court. At the Global Investors’ Summit held at the port city on March 3, the chief minister declared that he would be shifting his base to Visakhapatnam in a few months.
On Saturday, YSRCP regional coordinator for Visakhapatnam and Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams trust board chairman Y V Subba Reddy announced that Jagan will shift his CMO to Visakhapatnam either during August or September.
“It has been long overdue, but got delayed due to legal issues. We are hoping that all the issues will be resolved shortly,” Reddy said.
The party leader quoted above said the camp office for the chief minister was getting ready near Rushi Konda hills on the outskirts of Visakhapatnam with all modern facilities and furniture. “He is expected to move into the new office in September, during the auspicious month of Sravanam,” he said.
