Hyderabad: BJP terms three capitals move 'dictatorial'

Hyderabad: Andhra Pradesh BJP state president Kanna Lakshminarayana said that his party was categorically opposed to the unilateral and dictatorial decisions of Chief Minister Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy.

Addressing the media after a meeting with the key leaders of the state party here on Friday, Lakshminarayana said, "BJP is in favour of decentralisation of development to ensure equal development of all the areas on the state. But, it is categorically opposed to the idea of the unilateral decision taken by the CM to establish three capitals."

He clarified that there was no difference between the stand aired by the Central government and the state unit. "The Centre said that the decision of setting up capital was within the jurisdiction of the state government. But, the then state government had notified Amaravati as the capital of Andhra Pradesh. A political consensus was arrived at over the decision. This has made five crore people of the state to believe that Amaravati is their capital. Following this, there are several other stakeholders linked to it," he said. The state BJP chief had pointed out that farmers had given about 33,000 acre land for the construction of Amaravati. The centre had provided Rs 2,500 crore for the construction of the capital city. Also, the state government was allowed to raise an additional Rs 2,000 crore through issuing bonds, he added.

"On top of it, so far, nearly Rs 9,000 crore of the taxpayers' money has been spent on the construction of the capital city of Amaravati. But, the unilateral decision to shift capital taken by the Chief Minister without consultation with any of the stakeholders has created an undesirable atmosphere in the state," he noted.

Lakshminarayana said three capitals decision has sent a wrong message to all the stakeholders including those intending to invest in Andhra Pradesh. It also gave scope to fears that capital might change every time the government changes.

He said the uncertainty would hurt the image of the state as well as prospects of investments. "The Chief Minister has no moral right to take such unilateral decisions detrimental to the development, interests of the state and all the stakeholders," he asserted.