Amaravati: No secrecy in declaring capital, asserts TDP

Amaravati: The YSRCP government has been destroying Amaravati out of greed and selfishness, said TDP national spokesman and former MLA Bonda Umamaheswara Rao

He demanded the ministers and YSRCP MPs to explain as to why their party had not objected to the declaration of Amaravati as capital city when the decision was taken by the previous government.

Addressing a press conference at party state office in Mangalagiri on Thursday, he asserted that there was no secrecy when the TDP declared Amaravati as the capital city when it was in power. "There was no secrecy about the declaration of Amaravati capital during the TDP government but now the YSRCP government has taken a U-turn and is bent on destroying it out of sheer greed and political vendetta," he said.

He said that Amaravati was chosen with openness, transparency and after giving due consideration to the suggestions made by the Sivaramakrishanan Committee at that time, as per the conditions laid down by the Central government.

According to him, even the media houses affiliated to the ruling YSRCP had reported at that time that Vijayawada was the best place as capital. He said the national media too carried reports on the selection of a place between Vijayawada and Guntur.

"They were planning to shift the capital to Visakhapatnam only to make sure that the values of their land already acquired there go up multiple times. The YSRCP top leaders have acquired over 30,000 acre in the surroundings of the port city," he alleged.