The announcement made by YSR Congress party president and Andhra Pradesh chief minister Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy in New Delhi on Tuesday that Visakhapatnam is going to be the state capital in the days to come has triggered a big debate in the media circles.
“I invite you to our beautiful state for the Andhra Pradesh Global Investors Summit to be held on the 3rd & 4th of March in Visakhapatnam, which is going to be our capital in the days to come and I my self will be shifting to Visakhapatnam in the coming months,” Jagan said, while addressing the curtain raiser meeting of the Global Investors’ Summit in New Delhi.
His statement has created an uproar in the media and political circles. The opposition parties have started issuing statements saying Jagan had resorted to contempt of court, as the issue is presently being heard in the Supreme Court on Tuesday itself.
Unless the Supreme Court grants a stay on the high court judgement declaring Amaravati as the only capital, Jagan cannot make Visakhapatnam as the executive capital. Moreover, the revised bill with regard to decentralised administration through three capitals has not yet been introduced in the assembly, they say.
“Any statement on the location or relocation of capital city amounts to contempt of court. He should not have made a public statement to that effect,” an analyst said.
Strictly speaking there is nothing new in what Jagan has said in Delhi. He has been saying time and again quite openly that his government was committed to making Visakhapatnam as the executive capital, Kurnool as judicial capital and Amaravati as the legislative capital.
Secondly, Jagan did not specifically say when his government is going to make Visakhapatnam as the executive capital. He only said in the days to come which doesn’t convey any specific time frame.
Since his stand on making Visakhapatnam as the executive capital is very clear before the Supreme Court, it doesn’t amount to contempt of court. It can happen only after the final judgement of the apex court.
However, the Supreme Court judgement, either in favour of Amaravati or otherwise, cannot be a hindrance for Jagan to relocate his office to Visakhapatnam, as it is completely his prerogative. That is why he said he, himself, would shift to Visakhapatnam in the months to come.
The only interesting point in the whole episode is that Jagan did not declare Visakhapatnam as the executive capital, but said “state capital.” So, does it convey any other plan in his mind?
