Completing the tumultuous process of making of “new Andhra Pradesh”, Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu on Thursday announced that the Capital of the freshly demarcated State would be located “around Vijayawada”.
Centrally placed in the map of Andhra Pradesh, Vijayawada would now be the new epicentre of the State, but as per Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Act, 2014, Hyderabad will remain the joint capital of both Andhra Pradesh and Telangana for ten years.
Making a statement in the legislative Assembly amid din caused by Opposition YSR Congress, Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu said, “The Cabinet met on September 1 and resolved to locate the Capital city in a central place of the State, around Vijayawada, and go for decentralised development of the State with three mega cities and 14 smart cities.
“It is proposed to go for land pooling system to be worked out by a Cabinet sub-committee,” he said.
“This decision of the Cabinet is a reflection of the popular sentiment, and is affirmed by views expressed in the representations received by the Sivaramakrishnan Committee (appointed by the Centre),” he said.
“Nearly 50 per cent of the representations received
by the committee favoured Vijayawada-Guntur region as the best location for the Capital area,” Chandrababu added.
The State Government, as resolved by the Cabinet, was of the opinion that the interests of the entire State and its balanced development could be best served by locating the Capital city at a central place around Vijayawada.
This would enable equal access to people from all regions of the State, he observed. Visakhapatnam is the largest city and a commercial hub of the State followed by Vijayawada. Guntur, Nellore, Kurnool, Tirupati, Kakinada and Rajahmundry are other important cities in the State.
According to an assessment of the ruling Telugu Desam Party (TDP), `5 lakh crore will be required “to build a city like Hyderabad.” The Modi Government has said it will provide all support to the Andhra Pradesh Government in establishing Vijayawada as the new Capital of the State.
Union Parliamentary Affairs and Urban Development Venkaiah Naidu in Delhi said that the provision for a Capital city should have been provided in advance in the Bill for Andhra Pradesh reorganisation.
Since that was not done and it was left for the State to decide, the Andhra Pradesh Government has chosen a city. “The Centre will go by State’s choice and we will provide all support that is needed from us in this regard,” Naidu said.
Andhra Pradesh has the second longest coastline of 972-km among all the States of India, second only to Gujarat. It borders Telangana in the north-west, Chhattisgarh in the north, Odisha in the north-east, Karnataka in the west, Tamil Nadu in the south and the water body of Bay of Bengal in the east.
Before Naidu made a statement on the issue in the Assembly, YSR Congress MlAs stalled the proceedings demanding that the House first discussed the Sivaramakrishnan Committee report on location of new State capital.
The House had to be adjourned twice for 15 and ten minutes respectively as the Opposition legislators remained in the Well, holding placards and raising slogans for a discussion on the subject.
Though Speaker Kodela Sivaprasada Rao, legislative Affairs Minister Yanamala Ramakrishnudu, other Ministers and TDP MlAs found fault with the YSRC’s conduct, the Opposition members remained adamant on their demand.
“You can’t dictate terms to the House. It runs as per rules and procedures. You can take part in the discussion and express your views,” the Speaker told the agitating members but to no avail.
Reacting to leader of Opposition YS Jaganmohan Reddy’s remark that there appears to be “no democracy” in the House, the legislative Affairs Minister shot back saying “there is democracy but no Jaganocracy”.
“This is not lotus Pond or Idupulapaya (Jagan’s family estates). This House is Assembly. It runs according to rules and traditions. You should follow them,” Yanamala told Jagan.
Ministers Bojjala Gopalakrishna Reddy, K Atchannaidu, Chief Whip Kalva Srinivasulu, senior MlA Gorantla Butchaiah Chowdary and others also came down heavily on Jagan and his party colleagues.
“It is for the popularly elected Government to decide where the capital should be located in the interests of the State. It can’t be located where you and your associates have purchased huge tracts of land,” the TDP members said.