The YSR Congress party government in Andhra Pradesh headed by chief minister Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy has not yet taken any decision on shifting of capital city from Amaravati, though his cabinet colleague Botsa Satyanarayana gave a hint to that effect saying Amaravati was a bad choice for capital city and that state government was seriously thinking about the relocation.
Naturally, the Telugu Desam Party strongly resisted the proposal and demanded clarity from the chief minister on the capital issue.
However, it has so far not taken up any major agitations in this regard and wants to wait for an official announcement from Jagan.
But what is surprising is the way Bharatiya Janata Party has raising a lot of hue and cry over the capital issue.
BJP state president Kanna Lakshminarayana had already held a meeting with the farmers of Amaravati who gave away their lands for the capital and demanded that the Jagan government should drop any such proposal.
His party leader and Rajya Sabha MP T G Venkatesh went to the extent of saying that Jagan was planning to create four capital cities, rather than one.
On Tuesday, the BJP leaders including Kanna and another MP Sujana Chowdary toured the villages of Amaravati and joined their protest rallies.
Sujana said shifting of capital from Amaravati was not so easy, as it involved several complex issues.
“Already many a lot of development works had been taken up by the previous government, including construction of government offices in Amaravati. The YSRC leaders should remember the fact that construction of Amaravati was done with the permission of the National Green Tribunal,” he said.
Kanna said Jagan Reddy should respond and clear the misconception on the capital issue.
“We don’t oppose decentralized administration, but the state should have a capital city and it should be Amaravati,” he said.
One wonders what interest the BJP leaders have in Amaravati that is forcing them to so aggressive against the YSRC government.
