Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy on Tuesday said that the state capital will be shifted to Visakhapatnam. “Here I am to invite you to Visakhapatnam which is going to be our capital in coming days. I myself will be shifting to Visakhapatnam in coming months.”
Even though the High Court declared last year that it cannot legislate for it, Reddy is still planning for three capitals – Kurnool and the current capital Amaravati.
Reddy’s YSRCP government has appealed the case, which is currently before the Supreme Court. The claim about Visakhapatnam was made by Reddy, who has consistently supported the coastal city as the executive capital, while promoting an investment summit to be held there.
What is three capital case?
In 2015, the N Chandrababu Naidu-led government acquired over 33,000 acres of land from farmers to develop Amaravati as the state capital.
After Jagan Mohan Reddy took over in 2019, the state government wanted three capitals,
- Visakhapatnam-Executive capital
- Amaravati – the legislative capital
- Kurnool-Judicial capital
and passed an appropriate law. Its purpose was to decentralize the powers.
The Jagan Mohan Reddy government had in November last year passed a bill in the Assembly repealing the controversial AP Decentralization and Inclusive Development of All Regions Act, 2020, which aimed to set up three capitals for the state.
Jagan, speaking in the assembly without setting any time frame, said the government would come out with a “comprehensive, complete and improved” bill after plugging the loopholes in the previous version.
Decentralization Act: What is it?
The Legislative, Executive and Judicial capitals are the three seats of government that were intended to be established under the AP Decentralization and Inclusive Development of All Regions Act, 2020.
After the adoption of the APCRDA Repeal Act, 2020, the AP Capital Region Development Authority (APCRDA) was renamed as Amaravati Metropolitan Region Development Authority.
Why three capitals?
The underdeveloped Rayalaseema region, and north coastal districts from the West Godavari to Nellore coastline were targeted for development by the YSR Congress Party government’s plan to decentralize administration by setting up three capitals, a report by Hindu Told.
The current administration also believed that given the state of the economy, the previous administration’s extravagant capital plan was unsustainable.
what was the latest in the case
In March last year, the Andhra Pradesh High Court ruled against the three capitals and directed the government to envisage Amaravati as the state capital.
The Court, in its judgment dated March 3, 2022, also said that the State Legislature does not have the competence to make any law to move, divide or trifurcate the capital.
Challenging the order of the High Court, the State Government filed a petition in the Supreme Court.
The High Court also set a timeline for the development of Amaravati. Many ministers are clearly saying that the government will come out with a new bill on the issue of three capitals, despite the litigation going on in the Supreme Court.
What is the problem with Amaravati?
Amaravati is the site of an alleged land scam, for which the YSRCP has demanded an inquiry against Naidu.
According to the party, some individuals, who were informed in advance where the new capital would be located, bought properties there in anticipation of a future economic boom. In a statement to the Centre, the state administration said such people had bought over 4,000 acres of land in 2014.
Denying any wrongdoing, N Chandrababu Naidu had questioned why the YSRCP government was selling the land it had initially bought from farmers to build the new capital. The AP Capital Region Development Authority’s choice to lease out residential towers meant for government employees to private companies was particularly criticized by the Leader of the Opposition a few months ago.
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