Andhra Pradesh withdraws bill for three state capitals

The statement comes amid a political row

 ITDC INDIA EPRESS/ ITDC NEWS R  Andhra Pradesh on Monday withdrew a bill which would have given the state three capitals—Amaravati, Vizag and Kurnool. Instead, they would go with Amaravati as the sole capital. The statement was made by the AP advocate general in the high court. The statement comes amid a political row after Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy indicated in December 2020 that Andhra Pradesh could have three capitals.

In 2020, Jagan had said the existing capital Amaravati which is only in the basic stages of development could become the "Legislative Capital", port city Visakhapatnam the "Executive Capital" and Kurnool the "Judiciary Capital". The chief minister's idea appeared to be about having a capital each in the three main regions of the state, Visakhapatnam, north coastal Andhra Pradesh and Kurnool in Rayalseema. "We may have three different capitals. South Africa has three capitals. They are required. We have to think on those lines seriously," he had then said.

The previous Chandrababu Naidu government chose Amaravati as the capital out of nowhere, Jagan pointed out, adding a minimum amount of Rs 1.09 lakh crore was required to develop basic infrastructure like roads, drains and power supply. "That much money has to be borrowed. If we add interest on that sum and also the funds needed for other development, we need at least Rs 3 lakh crore," he added.