Andhra Pradesh CM calls Vizag ‘natural choice for capital’ while Amaravati farmers march in protest

Even as Amaravati farmers set out on their second Maha-padayatra in Andhra Pradesh to garner support for their “one state one capital” demand, chief minister Jaganmohan Reddy affirmed decentralisation as his way forward.

Two more capitals (Vizag and Kurnool) will come into being, in addition to Amaravati, Reddy stated during a short discussion on decentralization and administrative reforms on the opening day of the state assembly session at Amaravati on Thursday.

“Decentralisation is the only way for all-round development. I treat all the regions equally,” the chief minister said, while alleging that the ongoing padayatra was sponsored by Telugu Desam Party chief Chandrababu Naidu “to provoke people of other regions and start a fire.”

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Taking a dig at the agitation, Reddy said, “It is not for the development of SCs, STs, BCs or minorities but to safeguard the interests of the wealthy class.”

The chief minister also dubbed the Opposition’s “hue and cry” over the issue a “sham” and “sheer opportunism”.

The Amaravati Parirakshana Samithi’s maha-padayatra 2.0, supported by the TDP and other opposition parties, began on Monday from Amaravati and would culminate at Arasavalli in the state’s northernmost district Srikakulam on 11 November. While the first phase yatra went southwards ending in Tirupati, the present yatra will pass through Visakhapatnam.

According to Reddy, Visakhapatnam or Vizag, where he wanted to shift the executive to, was a natural choice “as it is the biggest city with ready-made infrastructure.”

He also questioned the commotion over the Amaravati mega capital city “which his predecessor Naidu could not build.”

“With some boost, Visakhapatnam would become the natural capital with an investment of Rs 10,000 crore, which is less than 10 per cent of the previous TDP government estimate to build the perceived capital city,” Reddy told the assembly.

The chief minister said that for the 53,000 acres project, Naidu estimated an expenditure of Rs 1.10 lakh crore just for basic infrastructure. “But all that he could spend was Rs 5,500 crore and has left Rs 2,297 crore as pending bills for us to clear.”

“While welfare of weaker sections is our priority, Naidu’s priority is welfare of only a section of society.” The Yuvajana Sramika Rythu Congress Party (YSRCP) alleged that the Amaravati capital location was mainly to benefit the Kammas, a social category perceived as the TDP’s backbone.

Reddy said that Andhra Pradesh, in his view, was the entire area of 1.62 lakh square km, not just the eight km (Amaravati capital) radius for “which there has been an agitation.”

“AP consists of 3.96 crore acres of land and not just 50,000 acres of Amaravati,” he said.

Reddy’s plan is to shift the executive to Visakhapatnam, and judiciary to Kurnool, while demoting the “mega, world class capital” Amaravati envisioned by Naidu, to just legislative capital.

In November, Reddy withdrew the two contentious capital decentralization legislations passed in 2020 and later went under judicial scrutiny. However, the chief minister said the withdrawal was only to bring in more effective, inclusive laws, which might reportedly happen in the present session.

Reddy’s capital shift has been on hold since August 2020, following the directives of the Andhra Pradesh high court which was reviewing the farmers’ petitions. Though the court had in March ordered the continuation of construction, development works in Amaravati capital city area, the YSRCP government has reportedly made no perceivable progress.