What's the need of building capital with borrowed money: Andhra Cong chief to CM

Vijayawada: Andhra Pradesh Congress president Y S Sharmila on Wednesday asked Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu about the need to build the capital city with money taken as a loan.

She demanded that Prime Minister Narendra Modi announce a grant of Rs 1.5 lakh crore for the construction of Amravati as the capital and asserted that taking huge loans for the project would push the state into debt.

The TDP-led NDA government is sitting on a land bank of 54,000 acres, acquired for the capital. Naidu recently informed the Finance Commission that the greenfield city needs Rs 77,249 crore for its construction. Of this, he said, Rs 31,000 crore has been secured from the World Bank, HUDCO and KfW, while another Rs 47,000 crore is needed.

"We are asking Chandrababu what is the need to build a capital with debt," said Sharmila in a press release.

She said Modi, who is coming to the state on May 2 to relaunch Amaravati construction works, give a grant of Rs 1.5 lakh crore unconditionally. According to the Congress leader, Rs 2 lakh crore is needed for the construction of the capital city.

Highlighting that the southern state is bereft of a capital for 10 years already, Sharmila asserted that the TDP as well as the YSRCP have worked as "slaves of Modi".

Though the prime minister laid the foundation for Amaravati back in 2015, he neither reviewed the work even 10 times nor gave it Rs 10 in the last 10 years, she said.

As if the decade-old "deception" was not enough, the prime minister is coming to the state on May 2 to relaunch the project, she said and alleged that the real estate mafia ruled the roost in the first five years between 2014 and 2019.

Earlier in the day, Sharmila claimed that she was placed under house arrest by the state government and questioned Naidu about the reason for it.

The Congress leader said she was confined in her villa in Vijayawada.

"Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister garu, why am I house arrested in my villa in Vijayawada? For what reason? Please tell the people of AP," said Sharmila in a post on X.

Questioning if going to her workplace, the Congress office, is a crime, she asked, "Why are you trying to curtail our constitutional rights? What is your govt afraid of?" According to Sharmila, the Congress party formed a committee to visit Amaravati and do "research" on it, prompting Naidu to thwart these plans and confine her to her home.

Later, she protested at Andhra Ratna Bhavan (Congress party office) over her house arrest, which was allegedly followed by the hurling of eggs at the Congress office by BJP workers.

Following the skirmish, Sharmila was briefly detained by police. She was later released.

Vice President of the state unit of the Congress, Kolanukonda Sijvaji, condemned Sharmila's detention.