The people of the region, irrespective of their political affiliations, should welcome Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy’s proposal to make Visakhapatnam the executive capital of the State, YSRCP State general secretary Dadi Veerabhadra Rao has said.
“It is a boon to the people of the north Andhra region, which has been neglected for long. I welcome the proposal,” Mr. Veerabhadra Rao told the media here on Wednesday.
Finding fault with the statements of TDP national president N. Chandrababu Naidu and other leaders that the move to have three Capitals – legislative (Amaravati), executive (Visakhapatnam) and judicial (Kurnool) – would have disastrous consequences, Mr. Rao said, on the contrary, it would lead to decentralised development, besides removing regional imbalances.
It would be a first in the country for a State to have three Capitals at three locations, he said, and described the proposal as historic.
Centralisation of administration and development of a single place were bound to give rise to revolts from the neglected regions, the former Minister said, and added that the government’s move would serve as an example for other States to ensure all-round development.
Charge against Naidu
Alleging that Mr. Naidu, prior to 2014, had entered into a pre-election understanding with the investors, who in turn put a condition that Amaravati should be made the Capital. The TDP, on coming to power, had acquired lands from farmers under the Land Pooling Scheme (LPS) and gave them away to the investors at throwaway prices. But when land was sought for setting up of Central Government institutions, exorbitant rates had been quoted, Mr. Rao charged.
The former Chief Minister was also opposed to the development of Visakhapatnam and Kurnool, and was therefore talking against the proposal, he alleged.
On JSP president Pawan Kalyan’s statements on the proposal, Mr. Rao advised him to at least respect the sentiments of his fans in the north Andhra region and refrain from toeing the line of the TDP.
