3-capital formula failed across the globe: Somireddy Chandramohan Reddy

Vijayawada: Former minister and senior TDP leader Somireddy Chandramohan Reddy on Tuesday said the three-capital formula has failed across the globe and gave examples of countries like South Africa that have rejected the concept. He also said that calling the peaceful padayatra of Amaravati farmers an invasion was wrong as the farmers are not carrying weapons like firearms or swords.

"It is not correct to cause inconvenience to the Amaravati farmers who are undertaking the padayatra in a peaceful manner," he added.

The former minister said the three-capital formula has failed even in foreign countries like South Africa and it is only out of ignorance that the ruling party is still pursuing the idea. "It is not true that only capital cities will witness development. For instance, the American capital of Washington, DC remained only a city but metros like Chicago and New York are progressing well," he said.

Similarly, though London is the capital of the United Kingdom, the city of Manchester witnessed industrial revolution, he said, and asked how the ruling party in the state can think of a three-capital formula when the very idea has failed across the globe.

He further said that the legislative capital theory is also wrong as the Maharashtra government is incurring huge losses by conducting a single Assembly session in Nagpur. The Maharashtra government has almost come to the conclusion not to hold the Assembly session in Nagpur anymore.

Stating that almost all the parties in the state, including the BJP, Congress, Jana Sena, and Left parties, have been demanding that Amaravati continue as the state capital, he said, "Even the YSRCP had earlier made it clear on the floor of the Assembly that Amaravati be the capital of Andhra Pradesh."

Mr. Somireddy Chandramohan expressed doubts about who will come forward to invest in Andhra Pradesh if there is no single capital. Even in the combined Andhra Pradesh, cities like Warangal, Vijayawada, and Visakhapatnam developed though Hyderabad was the capital city, he said and added that it was wrong to say that other cities will not progress well other than the capital city.

"Every city needs to have certain qualities for development. Since Visakhapatnam has a port, several industries like Hindustan Shipyard, Hindustan Zinc, Hindustan Petroleum Corporation and other industries are successfully operating there," he said.

The TDP leader said that when the late YS Rajasekhara Reddy was the chief minister, he and Cabinet minister Botsa Satyanarayana had tried to get Volkswagen to Visakhapatnam and they had even paid Rs. 11 crores as a bribe. Botsa Satyanarayana had to submit his resignation when this was proved, he recalled.

As chief minister, Chandrababu Naidu made every effort to get major institutes like All Indian Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), SRM University, and VIT to Amaravati which are still functioning. Besides, he also allotted lands for 125 national educational institutions and some of them have begun constructing their buildings, he noted.

The former minister felt that since Amaravati is in the centre of Andhra Pradesh and is equidistant from all parts of the state, it should be developed as the capital and that proper planning is required to further develop the city.