What is the capital of Andhra Pradesh? If your answer is Amaravati, it is both right and wrong. Andhra Pradesh CM Jagan Mohan Reddy has proposed that the State should have 3 capitals - Visakhapatnam, Kurnool and Amaravati
When Andhra Pradesh was divided into Andhra Pradesh and Telangana in 2014, Hyderabad was made capital of the newly formed Telangana.
The then CM Chandrababu Naidu wanted to make Amaravati AP’s capital.
His vision was to build a world-class capital city. To make this happen, thousands of farmers on the banks of the Krishna river gave their fertile lands, spreading across 33,000 acres, to the TDP-led government.
In October 2015, PM Narendra Modi laid the foundation stone for the city’s development. Buildings were constructed and businesses were established. Amaravati was being built as per the approved master plan.
In the 2019 elections, the TDP government lost to the YSR Congress Party. As YSR congress’s Jagan Mohan Reddy became the CM, the development of Amaravati was stalled.
In December 2019, Jagan Reddy proposed that Andhra Pradesh should have 3 capitals, along the lines of South Africa which has three capitals - Pretoria, the administrative Capital, Cape Town, the legislative capital, and Bloemfontein, the judicial capital.
This was introduced as the AP Decentralisation and Inclusive Development of All Regions Act, 2020.
Through this, Visakhapatnam would be the executive capital, Kurnool the judicial capital and Amaravati, the legislative capital.
This was done for the sake of development of the north coastal districts - the coastal stretch from West Godavari to Nellore and backward Rayalaseema.
Governor Biswa Bhusan Harichandan gave his assent to the relevant Bills in July, 2020.
This move faced a lot of criticism and opposition.
The farmers who gave their lands under the ‘pooling scheme’ for the construction of the greenfield capital city began to protest.
The Acts were challenged in the High Court by farmers and the court ruled in favour of the farmers. It directed the government to develop Amaravati as the state’s sole capital.
The YSR congress government repealed the decentralisation bill in November 2021.
In September 2022, Jagan Mohan Reddy revived the 3-capital proposal. He insisted that decentralisation is the only means for all-round development.
He argued that Visakhapatnam is the biggest city in the state with ready-made infrastructure and would be the natural choice to be the executive capital.
]He added that on the other hand, Amaravati would require over Rs.1 lakh crores for even the basic infrastructure to be established.
To counter the CM’s move, the farmers of Amaravati launched a non-political Joint Action Committee under the title Amaravati Parirakshana Samithi. They set out on Maha Padayatra from Amaravati to Arasavalli in Srikakulam district.
The YSR-congress responded by launching a non-political JAC in Visakhapatnam that vouched for the idea of three capitals.
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