AP Assembly passes two major Bills to shift capital from Amaravati to Vizag

Vijayawada: The Andhra Pradesh government, on 16 June, took a step towards realising its dream of having three state capitals. The state Assembly passed eight Bills, including the controversial Capital Region Development Authority (CRDA) Repeal Bill and the AP Decentralization and Inclusive Development of all Regions Bill, to shift the capital from Amaravati to Vizag city.

The Governor, Biswa Bhusan Harichandan, in his address to both the houses of the state legislature on the first day of the budget session, said the legal process for the three-capital concept was under process and the state government will develop an executive capital at Vizag city, legislative capital at Amaravati, and the judicial capital at Kurnool. "We are committed to three capitals," he added.

At present, several petitions regarding the capital relocation plan are pending in the Andhra Pradesh High Court. But despite the legal hitches, the YSR Congress Party, led by Chief Minister Y.S Jagan Mohan Reddy, passed the two Bills in the Assembly on Tuesday. The Bills were introduced during the two-day Assembly session to decentralize the state’s capital and replace the AP-CRDA with the Amaravati Metropolitan Region Development Authority (AMRDA).

The Bills were passed without any protest or discussion in the Assembly as the TDP MLAs had boycotted the sessions on Tuesday and the YSRCP enjoys a majority in the 175-member Assembly. Now, the Bills will have to be introduced in the legislative council where the YSRCP has only nine members while the TDP has a majority of 28 in the 58-member council. Earlier, in the first Assembly session after YSRCP came to power, the Andhra Pradesh government’s three-capital proposal had been stalled by the council.

Alleging that the YSRCP has been adopting anti-people policies, the TDP leaders said they will oppose the Bills in the council and continue their legal battle against the decision to move the capital from Amaravati to Vizag.