Foundations for executive and judicial capitals will be laid soon, AP CM Jaganmohan Reddy announces

Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Jaganmohan Reddy has announced that his government would soon lay the foundation for the executive capital at Visakhapatnam and judicial capital at Kurnool.

Governor Biswa Bhusan Harichandan had assented to the contentious capital decentralization bills last month, which leaves Amaravati as only the legislative capital.

However, the Andhra Pradesh High Court, which is hearing a bunch of petitions opposing the capital shift from Amaravati, has on Friday extended the stay on any move on the three-capital plan till August 27.

Delivering his Independence Day address in Vijayawada on Saturday, Reddy stated that “the wounds of united AP’s bifurcation have persuaded his government towards development decentralization with the three-capital concept.”

Reddy was referring to the political and economic upheaval caused by the state’s June 2014 bifurcation, especially with Hyderabad, where most of the financial growth was concentrated, going to Telangana.

“Our development devolution with Visakhapatnam as the executive capital and Kurnool as the judicial Capital is a bid to prevent any such wounds in the future. The model would allow the fruits of development to be evenly spread to all three regions,” Reddy said.

The YSRCP chief also asserted that his government would continue to press upon the centre with the demand for the Special Category Status (SCS) to help the state attract investments and achieve decent growth.

The Narendra Modi government had earlier suggested the SCS for the state as an unfeasible provision.

“With reverse tendering in projects, judicial previews, evaluation of earlier government’s decisions which helped us save over Rs 4000 crore,” the Chief Minister added while stating that he has brought in transparent and corruption-free governance.