The Andhra Pradesh Cabinet is scheduled to meet at 11 a.m. today with the report submitted by retired IAS officer G.N. Rao-led committee on decentralisation as the primary agenda.
The expert panel recommended that the State government should develop Amaravati, Visakhapatnam and Kurnool as the legislative, executive and judicial capital cities respectively instead of pooling up everything in one mega city (Amaravati).
Government not backing off
Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy first gave a clear hint of it in the Legislative Assembly on December 17 triggering protests by farmers in Amaravati, which intensified in the run-up to the Cabinet meet as the government showed no sign of backing off from its stand.
Rayalaseema’s Kurnool capital demand
Besides, the ‘three capitals’ proposal opened a can of worms in Rayalaseema as the people became increasingly vociferous in their demand that the entire capital should be shifted to Kurnool on the ground that it would undo the injustice meted to them for decades.
Today’s Cabinet meeting is also likely to discuss the corruption which allegedly took place during the TDP regime, development of economic zones, reservations for the upcoming elections to local bodies and minimum support prices for various crops, among other agenda items.