Amaravati: The YSR Congress party government in Andhra Pradesh on Monday decided to withdraw its decision to form three capital cities for the state.
The state cabinet, which met at the state secretariat under the leadership of chief minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy, approved the decision to repeal the two acts – Andhra Pradesh Capital Region Development (Repeal) Act and AP Decentralisation and Inclusive Development of All Regions Act, passed by the state assembly in June 2020.
APCRDA was created by the previous TDP government in 2015 to develop Amaravati as the state capital. The Jagan government abolished the same and decided to establish three capitals for the state – executive capital at Visakhapatnam, judicial capital at Kurnool, and legislative capital at Amaravati. While there is no clarity as of yet, sources indicate that Vizag is very likely to be the next capital.
The new capital would prove to be an important decision for the landscape of Andhra Pradesh. This comes at a time when farmers from Amaravati had protested for over 700 days in the last 20 days to ensure that it Amaravati would be the sole capital of the state. In fact, a significant number of farmers gave up their land to ensure a world-class capital.
The chief minister would make a detailed statement in the assembly shortly. At the same time, state advocate general Subrahmanyam Sriram informed the state high court that the two Acts are going to be withdrawn. The high court has been hearing over 100 petitions challenging the Jagan Mohan Reddy government’s decision to form three capitals.