YSRCP holds rallies in 10 Andhra districts to push for three-capital agenda

The occasion was to celebrate the 85th anniversary of the Sribagh Agreement, which was signed by the leaders of Coastal Andhra and Rayalaseema on November 16, 1937, while seeking to separate from the then Madras Presidency.

The ruling YSR Congress Party in Andhra Pradesh, in association with Joint Action Committee for decentralisation, conducted rallies and human chains in 10 districts across the state on Wednesday, in yet another attempt to give push to the proposal of chief minister Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy to create three capitals for the state.

Participants during the human chain formation in Kurnool district. (HT Photo)

The occasion was to celebrate the 85th anniversary of the Sribagh Agreement, which was signed by the leaders of Coastal Andhra and Rayalaseema on November 16, 1937, while seeking to separate from the then Madras Presidency.

The agreement called for decentralisation of administration while forming a linguistic state for Telugus. After the formation of Andhra as a state in 1953, the then government followed this Sribagh Agreement to locate administrative capital at Kurnool and the state high court at Guntur.

“The objective of the programme is to highlight the essence of decentralisation, which was the hallmark of the Sribagh Agreement. We are glad that the Jagan Mohan Reddy government has given a new lease of life to this forgotten agreement by proposing three capitals,” JAC convener K V Ramana said in Anantapur.

An official statement from the YSR Congress Party said: The party MLAs and in-charges of various assembly constituencies in Kurnool, YSR Kadapa, Annamayya, Nandyala, Ananthapuramu, Tirupati, Sri Sathya Sai, Chittoor, Prakasam and Nellore districts formed human chains along with the general public to support the idea of decentralisation.

YSRC leaders also took out processions with party workers, students, members of civil society organisations and general public raising slogans in support of three capitals, said the statement. “Over 7,000 people in each district took part in the processions and human chains,” it read.

The statement said the chief minister firmly believes in the concept of decentralisation to ensure social, regional, and economic development in all the three regions of the state.

“The chief minister emphasised that the objective of decentralised development would be fulfilled only by establishing three capitals in the state i.e executive capital at Visakhapatnam, legislative capital at Amaravati and judicial capital at Kurnool,” the party said.