BJP Rajya Sabha member Y. Satyanarayana Chowdary (Sujana Chowdary) has asserted the Centre will not keep quiet on the State government’s plans to make Visakhapatnam the Executive capital.
“I am saying this after discussing with the Central government,” Mr. Chowdary asserted at a press conference here on Sunday.
Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy had welcomed Amaravati as the Capital while in the opposition, but changed his stand soon after coming to power. None of the MLAs had opposed Amaravati then. The CM had not explained the rationale behind shifting the Capital till date. As a result, the situation had become volatile with regional passions running high.
The State would plunge into a financial crisis like Venezuela and Panama if the Capital was shifted.
The government would have to pay a compensation of ₹ 80,000 crore to ₹ 90,000 crore to the farmers if it went ahead with its decision. It would have to pay ₹ 1 lakh crore to ₹ 1.5 lakh crore to contractors who were executing works after availing bank loans if they took legal recourse. “Is the government in a position to shell out such huge amounts?” he asked.
The recommendations of the expert committee headed by G.N. Rao were “incomprehensible” and the proposal to have three Capitals was ridiculous. Development would not follow decentralisation of administration. The government should focus on decentralisation of development, but not administration, he added.
Both the previous and present governments had failed to tap Central funds for the Capital city. The Centre had given ₹ 5,674 crore as advance for taking up developmental works in Amaravati. The people donated ₹42 crore for the Capital project.
‘Delay led to TDP’s debacle’
Many private institutions had come up in the area during the last five years, but the Jagan government did not take up any construction after coming to power. The delay in Capital city construction led to the debacle of the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) in the elections, he said.
Mr. Chowdary called upon people of all 13 districts and the BJP cadre to respond on the issue.
