3 capitals to keep political cauldron boiling

Vijayawada: Politics in Andhra Pradesh has once again started revolving round the issue of three capitals for Andhra Pradesh.

The state government, which has decided to introduce a revised bill to have three capitals on Thursday, has intensified its campaign on the need for three capitals saying that people are waiting for three capitals but it was the opposition which was creating hurdles.

This drumming up of support for three capitals comes a day ahead of the monsoon session of the State Assembly. It may be mentioned here that on November 22 last year when the government withdrew the bill following a court order against Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy stated that the government would come up with a revised bill. He is likely to make a powerpoint presentation in the Assembly on Thursday.

Interestingly, Union Minister of State for Social Justice and Empowerment A Narayana Swamy, who was in Vijayawada on Wednesday, said that the Union government desires that Amaravati should be developed as the capital of Andhra Pradesh. He said all have agreed that Amaravati is the capital of Andhra Pradesh and suggested the State government to co-operate for the development of the capital. He also stated that funding by the Centre for development of the capital city would be only for Amaravati.

On the other hand, the TDP demanded that the chief minister dissolve the assembly and go to the people with a single point agenda on the issue of Amaravati. YSRCP sources say that over one crore people were directly benefitted by various schemes launched by the state government and there is a possibility of Jagan seeking their support for three capitals. This is likely to become a major political issue in the days to come.

Meanwhile, Minister for Water Resources Ambati Rambabu termed the padayatra, which is being taken up by farmers, is in the interests of people who have stakes in real estate. He said it was meant to provoke the people of North Andhra and reiterated that there was a big land scam in selecting Amaravati as the capital.

Recently, similar comments were also made by the Speaker of the Assembly T Sitaram.

YSRCP party official spokesperson G Srikant Reddy said it was TDP supporters who were taking out the padayatra under the guise of Amaravati farmers.

YSRCP MLA K Parthasarathy said that the YSRCP was committed to develop all the regions in the state.