Many leaders from Vizianagaram and Srikakulam districts geared up to accord a rousing reception to Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy on Saturday in Visakhapatnam for proposing Port City as the executive capital for Andhra Pradesh. Although they were disappointed with the ‘outcome’ of Friday’s Cabinet meeting, they are hopeful that Visakhapatnam would be confirmed as the executive capital in New Year.
Assembly Speaker Tammineni Sitaram, Minister for Roads and Development Dharmana Krishnadas, former Minister Dharmana Prasada Rao and others directed all mandal leaders join them in extending welcome to the Chief Minister from the airport to Rama Krishna Beach. YSRCP State central executive committee member Andhavarapu Suribabu hoped that Visakhapatnam would be the permanent capital for the State. “Srikakulam district would witness unprecedented growth within no time since it is very close Visakhapatnam. Many industries will come up in Visakhapatnam-Srikakulam stretch where progress has remained stagnant for the last two decades,” he said.
Minister for Municipal Administration and Urban Development Botcha Satyanarayana, who reportedly played a key role in the process of executive capital announcement, directed all district MLAs and YSRCP leaders to make Chief Minister’s visit to Visakhapatnam a grand success.
Vizianagaram MLA Kolagatla Veerabhadra Swamy reportedly arranged vehicles for the party activists to reach Visakhapatnam in the early hours of Saturday.
‘Expedite process’
In a press release, Vizianagaram Senior Citizens’ Welfare Association president K.P. Eswar and general secretary Gidituri Pyditalli urged the Chief Minister to expedite the establishment of the capital in Visakhapatnam for the benefit of the North Coastal region. They said that there was no industrial progress in Vizianagaram for the last seven decades with the centralisation of development in Hyderabad and Amaravati. “Every State has an international city as its capital. People of Andhra Pradesh also require such a capital and it would be possible only with Visakhapatnam,” they said.
Former Vice-Chancellor of Ambedkar University Hanumanthu Lazapathi Rai said that distance should not be seen as a hurdle since people of Srikakulam and Vizianagaram districts had accepted Hyderabad as the capital for almost six decades. “There was no resentment from people of North Andhra region when Kurnool was made capital when Andhra State was created in 1953. They also welcomed the decision when Hyderabad was made the capital in 1956. So, people of all regions should welcome Visakhapatnam as the capital for AP,” he added.
