Andhra Pradesh Government keen on shifting executive capital to Vizag

Amaravati: The State government seems to be determined to soon shift the executive capital to Visakhapatnam. This is reflected in the comments made by several Ministers over the last one week.

The speculation over the shifting of the capital peaked high with the mention of Visakhapatnam as the capital of Andhra Pradesh in a reply given by Union Petroleum and Natural Gas Ministers Hardeep Singh Puri to a question in Lok Sabha, which reflects the acceptance of Central government for AP's three capital proposal.

However, the Central government gave a clarification on the lapse in the note by stating that Visakhapatnam was shown as a reference city and not as State capital. The Lok Sabha secretariat is also informed to make amendments to the reply. Despite the clarification from the Central government, the speculations over shifting of capital reached peak in the State with the comments made by Ministers and MLAs.

During a recent meeting in Rajamahendravaram, Minister for Municipal Administration Botcha Satyanarayana made it clear that the State government is committed to decentralisation of administration and shifting of executive capital to Visakhapatnam.

Later, Minister for Tourism Avanti Srinivas in a media conference on Monday in Visakhapatnam said that the State government has a clear vision on the development of all three regions through decentralisation of administration.

He said the State government is committed to development of North Andhra and Visakhapatnam has the required infrastructure to be an executive capital.

Giving a fillip to the speculation on the shifting of capital, Minister for Industries Mekapati Goutham Reddy speaking to mediapersons in Tirupati on Tuesday recalled that Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy had stated in Assembly on the decentralisation of administration and there is no change in the State government's stand.

He said that there is no subject of capital in the Constitution. He said the Secretariat and capital will be located at the place from where the Chief Minister carries out his day-to-day official work.

He said that the State government is following the earlier Sribagh Agreement and has decided to set up the Judicial Capital in Rayalaseema and the Legislative Capital in Amaravati while the economic capital will be situated in Visakahapatnam.

Meanwhile, addressing the media in Visakhapatnam on Tuesday, Anakapalle MLA Gudivada Amarnath said that while Chief Minister Jagan Mohan Reddy is striving for development of North Andhra and to make Visakhapatnam as executive capital, opposition TDP is solely intended to destroy it. He said that the State government is spending Rs 8,500 crore on the development projects in North Andhra including Visakhapatnam.