Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy, the Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh (A.P.,) once again defended his decision of shifting the State capital.
The Yuvajana Sramika Rythu Congress Party (YSRCP) Government proposed to have 3 State capitals—Amaravati, Visakhapatnam and Kurnool.
While Visakhapatnam would be the administrative capital, Amaravati and Kurnool would be the legislative and judicial capitals respectively.
Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy, on the 5th of February, justified the A.P. Cabinet’s decision and said Visakhapatnam would compete with Hyderabad, Chennai and Bengaluru in 10 years.
Jagan Mohan Reddy said, “I have done what a father would do. I am bestowed with the responsibility of being (the) father of the State. I have done my fatherly duty to the best of my ability.”
Mr. Reddy said the State does not have sufficient money to develop Amaravati as the State’s capital on the grand scale envisioned by the previous State Government, whereas Visakhapatnam is already developed and would be able to compete with other South Indian states’ capitals.
Jagan Mohan Reddy said, “As the Chief Minister I am answerable to the next generation, which expects jobs and engine of growth. They come out of college with degrees in hands looking for jobs. Where will they get? I don’t have funds to complete a grandiose capital like Amaravati.”
Jagan Mohan Reddy said developing Amaravati as the State’s capital would cost Rs. 1.09 lakh crores, whereas developing Visakhapatnam as the State’s administrative capital would cost only 10 % of Rs. 1.09 lakh crores.
The A.P., CM said, “Imagine what would it (Amaravati) contribute. It would be just a drop of water in an ocean. It would not even be visible whereas Visakhapatnam or Vizag is already number one city in Andhra Pradesh. It has all the infrastructure already in existence. Out of this one lakh crore, even 10 percent of this amount if I were to put in Vizag at least if not now, if not in 5 years, at least in 10 years we would be competing with Hyderabad, Bengaluru and Chennai.”
Meanwhile, opposition parties like the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) and the JanaSena Party are criticising the YSRCP for shifting the State capital. Farmers of Amaravati’s 29 villages and the Amaravati Joint Action Committee (JAC) are also against the State Government and are on an indefinite strike.
The agitation against the YSRCP intensified, including petitions against the YSRCP Government being filed in the Andhra Pradesh High Court.
