Ajit Karn
Visakhapatnam would be the future capital of Andhra Pradesh.
The chief minister of Andhra Pradesh, YS Jagan Mohan Reddy, said Tuesday afternoon that Visakhapatnam would serve as the state’s new capital, cancelling plans to create Amaravati on the banks of the Krishna river.
Nine years after the state of Telangana was split off from its territory and awarded Hyderabad as its capital, the announcement of a new capital for Andhra has been made.
The head of the YSR Congress remarked at a gathering in Delhi: “I’d like to extend an invitation to Visakhapatnam, which will soon serve as our capital. In the next months, I’ll be moving to Visakhapatnam as well.”
On March 3–4 (in Visakhapatnam), “We’re organising a global summit… an investors summit,” the chief minister said. “I want to take this opportunity to personally invite each of you to the summit… and request each of you to not only come but to also put in a good word, a strong word, to colleagues abroad.”
He urged investors to “visit us and observe… how easy it is to do business in the state of Andhra Pradesh” during the International Diplomatic Alliance meeting in Delhi.
The choice of Andhra Pradesh’s new capital, for which more than 33,000 acres of land had been purchased from farmers in Amaravati, has caused social, legal, economic, and political strife in recent years.
#WATCH | "Here I am to invite you to Visakhapatnam which will be our capital in the days to come. I will also be shifting to Visakhapatnam in the months to come": Andhra Pradesh CM YS Jagan Mohan Reddy at International Diplomatic Alliance meet in Delhi pic.twitter.com/wANqgXC1yP
— ANI (@ANI) January 31, 2023
Amaravati would be the capital, according to Chandrababu Naidu, the chief minister at the time, in 2015, but three capital cities were suggested five years later.
According to that plan, Visakhapatnam and Kurnool would amalgamate with Amaravati, making the latter the legislative heartland, Kurnool the judicial, and Visakhapatnam the executive capital of Andhra Pradesh.
The Andhra Pradesh High Court rejected the idea of having three capitals in March of last year and ordered the government to build Amaravati instead. According to the court, the legislature lacks the authority to make these choices.
The statute designating three capital cities was revoked by the state in November, along with a commitment to a “comprehensive, complete, and better” proposal.
The Supreme Court later suspended the decision, stating that the High Court had overstepped its bounds and that “courts are not governments.”
Also read this:Goa requests an early Supreme Court hearing in the Karnataka-Goa river water issue.
Amaravati also became the centre of a land fraud, an accusation made by the ruling YSR Congress against the Telugu Desam Party, its competitor and former ruling party, during the back-and-forth over the choice of a new capital.
