Amaravati gets legal status as Andhra’s sole capital; Cong backs; YSRCP opposes

The Lok Sabha, on Wednesday (April 1), passed a bill recognising Amaravati as the sole and permanent capital of Andhra Pradesh. The Opposition Congress backed the move along with the NDA, while YSR Congress Party (YSRCP) opposed it during the debate and walked out of the House in protest.

The bill, passed by a voice vote, would prevent any future bid to alter the decision to make Amaravati the sole and permanent capital, fulfilling an aspiration of Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu.

Once the bill becomes a law, Amaravati will be the sole and permanent capital of Andhra Pradesh with effect from June 2, 2024.

Also read: Andhra Pradesh Assembly passes resolution seeking Amaravati as legal capital

Responding to a nearly two-hour-long debate on the Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation (Amendment) Bill, Minister of State for Home Nityanand Rai thanked the members for supporting an Andhra Pradesh legislative assembly resolution that urged the Centre to provide legal backing to Amaravati as the Andhra Pradesh capital.

Need for permanent capital

Earlier, initiating the debate on the bill, Congress member Manickam Tagore said his party fully supports the legislation but wants special status for Andhra Pradesh. "Let Amaravati develop like Bengaluru, Chennai or Hyderabad. Let Vishakhapatnam, Tirupati and Kurnool also develop. We support Amaravati as the permanent capital of Andhra Pradesh," he said.

During his tenure as chief minister, YSRCP leader Jagan Mohan Reddy had announced that Andhra Pradesh would have three capitals - administrative capital at Visakhapatnam, legislative capital at Amaravati and judicial capital at Kurnool - instead of a single capital city at Amaravati. After Naidu returned to power in 2024, he announced that Amaravati would be the sole capital of the state.

Also read: Amaravati development ‘unstoppable’, says Chandrababu Naidu amid political row

Participating in the debate, TDP member and Union Minister of State for Rural Development and Communications Chandra Sekhar Pemmasani appealed to the House to pass the bill unanimously, as it will ensure a permanent capital for Andhra Pradesh.

Supporting the bill, BJP member C M Ramesh said this is the first time in the history of independent India that a bill has been brought to Parliament to declare a particular place as the capital of a state.

From now onwards, "no one will be able to play" with the capital of Andhra Pradesh as Amaravati will be the sole and permanent capital of the state, he said.

Ramesh termed the decision to have three capitals of Andhra Pradesh as "illogical and irrational".

"This bill will ensure that no one will play with the capital of Andhra Pradesh. We want a permanent capital for Andhra Pradesh and then there will be revenue and the state will flourish," he said.

Development of Amaravati

However, TDP's arch-rival YSR Congress Party strongly opposed the legislation. He said it has no meaning unless the interests of the farmers are protected and a definite timeline is given for compensation to them for their land that was acquired to build Amravati.

YSRCP member P V Midhun Reddy said 34,000 acres were acquired by the state government for the development of Amaravati as the capital with the promise of giving free developed plots, a housing scheme and free education for the children of the affected people. However, nothing has been given to them so far.

"They are not bothered about farmers. Give a specific date, a specific timeline - when the plots will be given to the farmers. Incorporate all these points in the Bill. Otherwise there is no meaning," he said.

Reddy alleged that the state's TDP government is not concerned about where the huge amount of funds would come from for the development of such a large capital. "You want to develop a capital bigger than Kolkata, but there is no clue from where the funds will come," he said.

Also read: World Bank, ADB to fund $1.6bn for Andhra's Amaravati capital

The YSRCP MP justified the decision of his party's government, which ruled the state from 2019 to 2024, of planning to develop three capitals, saying it was nothing new as there were many such examples globally.

"We want the concerns of the farmers protected in the Bill. There should be a definite timeline. Otherwise, this bill in the present form has no purpose. We have no opposition to Amaravati as such. But everything has to be clear," he said.

10-year capital clause

According to the Bill circulated among Lok Sabha members, the provisions of the 2014 Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Act provide that on and from the appointed day, Hyderabad will be the common capital for Telangana and Andhra Pradesh for a period not exceeding 10 years.

After which, Hyderabad will be the capital of Telangana, and there will be a new capital for the successor state of Andhra Pradesh.

Capital status formalised

After the reorganisation law came into being, the Andhra Pradesh government, "after due consideration, consultation, and planning, identified and notified 'Amaravati' as the new capital of that state," the bill noted.

Once the bill becomes an Act, Amravati will be legally recognised as the capital of Andhra Pradesh with effect from June 2, 2024.

It said significant administrative and legislative measures have been undertaken, besides the infrastructural developments in and around Amaravati, to establish it as the capital of Andhra Pradesh.

Also read: TISS audit of Amaravati land pooling scheme raises credibility concerns

It was observed that on March 28, the state legislative assembly passed a resolution requesting the Centre to amend Section 5 of the Reorganisation Act to incorporate the name of "Amaravati" as the new capital of Andhra Pradesh.

To give effect to the resolution of the state legislative assembly, and to provide "statutory clarity regarding the capital" of AP, the bill proposes to amend sub-section (2) of section 5 of the reorganisation law to incorporate the name of "Amaravati" as the new capital of Andhra Pradesh with effect from June 2, 2024.

(With agency inputs)