The proposal to establish three Capitals in the State is welcome, but they should not be on the lines of the South African model, BJP Rajya Sabha member T.G. Venkatesh has said.
Addressing the media here on Wednesday, Mr. Venkatesh asked the government to set up branches of the executive, the judiciary and the legislature in all the three Capital cities.
“A mini-Secretariat must be established in Amaravati and Kurnool. A mini-Assembly must be established in Kurnool and Visakhapatnam. And High Court benches must be set up in Amaravati and Visakhapatnam,” he said.
Maharashtra model
Stating that there were models existing in the country that could be replicated, Mr. Venkatesh said, “For example, Maharashtra has two Capitals. These Capitals have both Secretariat and Assembly. They are functioning depending on the season.”
It would be unreasonable to ask the litigant public from Visakhapatnam to come to Kurnool to pursue their cases in the High Court. Similarly, it would be impossible for the people of Kurnool to go to Visakhapatnam for Secretariat work, he added.
The government had set up Village Secretariats in a bid to make governance more accessible. In the same manner, mini-Secretariats, High Court benches and mini-Assemblies must be set up, Mr. Venkatesh said.
Referring to the ongoing protests in Amaravati, the BJP leader said that by decentralising development further, the government could pacify the protesters.
‘YSR’s dream’
“The dream of former Chief Minister Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy will be fulfilled only if all the regions are developed equally,” he added.
“As a representative of the Rayalaseema Ikya Hakkula Vedika, I have been demanding decentralisation of development since long. We have been seeking development of the backward regions in the State,” he said.
Senior party leader G. Pratap Reddy was present.
