The Lok Sabha on Wednesday passed a bill recognising Amaravati as the sole and permanent capital of Andhra Pradesh.
The Telugu Desam Party and the Bharatiya Janata Party, which are the key members of the ruling alliance in Andhra Pradesh, supported the Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Amendment Bill, PTI reported. The Congress also supported the bill, but called for the state to be given special status.
The Yuvajana Sramika Rythu Congress, the opposition in the state, opposed the bill. It argued that the proposed law would be meaningless unless farmers’ interests are protected and a clear timeline is set for giving them compensation for land acquired from them, according to PTI.
Congress MP Manickam Tagore, who initiated the debate on the bill, was quoted as saying by PTI: “Let Amaravati develop like Bangalore, Chennai or Hyderabad. Let Vishakhapatnam, Tirupati, Kurnool also develop. We support Amaravati as the permanent capital of Andhra Pradesh.”
Telugu Desam Party MP and Union minister Chandra Sekhar Pemmasani also urged the House to pass the bill unanimously, saying it would ensure a permanent capital for Andhra Pradesh.
BJP MP CM Ramesh criticised a previous proposal by the YSR Congress Party to declare three cities as capitals of Andhra Pradesh, calling it “illogical and irrational”, PTI reported. The previous Jagan Mohan Reddy-led government had in 2020 proposed making Vishakhapatnam as the executive capital, Amaravati as the legislative capital and Kurnool as the judicial capital.
“This bill will ensure that no one will play with the capital of Andhra Pradesh,” Ramesh said on Wednesday, according to PTI. “We want a permanent capital for Andhra Pradesh and then there will be revenue and the state will flourish.”
However, the YSR Congress Party’s PV Midhun Reddy said that the state government had acquired 34,000 acres of land for making Amaravati the capital. He said that the government had promised those who gave up their land, free developed plots, a housing scheme and free education for children, but alleged that nothing had been given to them yet, according to PTI.
“They are not bothered about farmers,” Reddy was quoted as saying by the news agency. “Give a specific date, a specific timeline – when the plots will be given to the farmers. Incorporate all these points in the bill, otherwise there is no meaning.”
Also read: They gave up farmland for new Andhra capital. Now they are crippled with uncertainty
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