Whether it is going to be the executive capital or the capital of Andhra Pradesh or just one of the three important cities of the State, Visakhapatnam has the potential to be the global city.
Chief Minister Jagan Mohan Reddy had announced that this port city would be one of the three capitals of the State.
He said this city would be the executive capital while Amaravati continues to be the legislative capital. Kurnool will be the judicial capital with the High Court being relocated here.
There is not much a controversy or opposition to the relocation or shifting of High Court to Kurnool.
Not even the TDP leaders are openly speaking against HC in Kurnool, not because of the fear of losing votes, but because of the commitment that this region was promised some 60 years ago.
The only opposition is on the other two capitals – legislative and executive.
Former chief minister Chandrababu Naidu had announced Amaravati as the capital and had located legislature (assembly), executive (secretariat) and judicial (High Court) headquarters.
Now, Jagan Mohan Reddy had promised trifurcation of the capital with each wing relocated in the three different places.
The TDP, Jana Sena and the CPI are opposed to the shifting of Secretariat from Amaravati to Visakhapatnam. There are some farmers fighting against the relocation of capital to Visakhapatnam.
But, keeping these politics aside, Visakhapatnam is seen as the potential place to draw the global attention. Its strategic location on the east coast gives is the national importance now.
Moreover, Visakhapatnam is the only major city located between Kokatta in the north and Chennai in the south and thus having the potential to be the third metropolitan city on the east coast.
The east coast is spread over close to 1800 km of which AP covers 900, almost half of the Bay of Bengal coast line.
As the world begins looking to east, and Visakhapatnam is strategically located right in the middle of the east coast, it doesn’t require much time to draw of attention of the South East Asian countries or even others, which are looking for greater global consumer market.
Thus Jagan Mohan Reddy is seen as a leader ahead of others in identifying Visakhapatnam as executive capital, a better choice than what Chandrababu Naidu with his 40 years experience, visualised.
