As the Andhra Pradesh government is getting ready for the commencement of the budget session of the state assembly, the talk of whether it would introduce the revised three capitals’ bill or not has once again started in the media circles.
According to the latest reports, the budget session will commence from February 27 and it would take place for 13 working days. The session would start with the address of the Governor to the joint meeting of the state assembly and council.
It would be followed by the debate on Motion of Thanks for the Governor’s address, condolence resolutions and short discussions. There would be no session on March 3 and 4 due to Global Investment Summit at Visakhapatnam.
The assembly would reassemble on March 6 for the introduction of state budget. After a week-long discussion on budget and demand for grants of the various departments, the assembly will pass the appropriation bill. The detailed schedule of the assembly will be announced shortly.
The most awaited topic during the assembly session is whether the Jagan Mohan Reddy government would introduce the three capitals bill or not.
According to one version, the government would not specifically mention about three capitals in the bill, but would only talk about decentralisation of administration for inclusive development.
The bill would mention only about running the administration from Visakhapatnam, establishment of a principal bench of the high court at Kurnool and continuing one session of the assembly at the present location.
So, there may not be a mention of judicial capital and legislative capital per se in the bill. It would mention about “capital” instead of “capitals” so as to avoid conflict with the earlier legislation approved by the Centre.
“The only difference will be that the term “Amaravati” would be replaced by Visakhapatnam in the new bill,” sources added.
