Andhra Pradesh cabinet clears proposal for three capitals

The Andhra Pradesh cabinet on Monday morning approved the three-capital proposal during its meeting at the state secretariat. The meeting was chaired by Andhra Chief Minister Jaganmohan Reddy.

After the cabinet meeting, the Legislative Assembly Business Advisory Committee met at 10 am after which the Assembly proceedings started at 11 am. The bill has been introduced in the Assembly.

The ruling YSR government plans to set up a legislative capital in Amaravati, executive/secretariat in Visakhapatnam and judicial in Kurnool.

While the YS Jagan Mohan Reddy government has been firm on carrying out its new plans for "comprehensive, parallel and decentralized development, other political parties and citizens at large have opposed the ruling YSR Congress' move to relocate the state capital from Amaravati to Visakhapatnam, as already indicated by the Chief Minister on the floor of the Andhra Pradesh Assembly on December 17.

How the government is seeking to go ahead with its plans remains a closely-guarded secret but, given any opportunity, the principal opposition Telugu Desam Party is determined to derail the process by showing its strength in the Legislative Council. The YSRC may be having a brute majority of 151 in the 175-member Assembly but it's in a woeful minority in the 58-member Council, with its numbers being just nine.

With 28 members and possible support of BJP and others, the TDP could effectively stall albeit temporarily any legislation intended to alter the status quo of the capital.

Wary of this, the government has not let its strategy known so far though indications are that it may bring in a Money Bill to foil the opposition attempts. But the (draft) Money Bill has to be first approved by the cabinet and sent to the Governor for clearance before it is tabled in the Assembly, government sources said.

The Council will meet on January 21 as per the Legislature notification and will sit only for two days whereas the Assembly will have one extra day.

What ministers gave everyone to understand ahead of the session, which is supposed to be a landmark, is that the Legislature will essentially deliberate the report of the High-Powered Committee of ministers and bureaucrats on "decentralized development" and take a call on various related issues, including the location of the state capital.

The HPC relied on the recommendations made by the six-member committee of experts and also the Boston Consulting Group, besides the Sivaramakrishnan Committee, while coming out with its own set of suggestions.