During the monsoon session of the Andhra Pradesh assembly held in July in Hyderabad, Telugu Desam Party president and chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu declared that it was the last session being held in the joint capital and that the forthcoming winter session would be held in Amaravati, the new capital of AP.
In fact, he had even given farewell speech then and spoke emotionally to the media, recalling his association with the AP Assembly right from his entry into politics in 1978.
He even boasted of bringing his father-in-law N T Rama Rao to the AP assembly and his role in bringing him into politics. Following his direction, all the Assembly staff also vacated their offices and moved to Amaravati.
However, the construction of Assembly and Legislative Council buildings at Velagapudi is yet to get completed before the deadline. Though it is 90 per cent ready, the final works are still going on and there are no seating arrangements yet.
In the meantime, the Naidu government is compelled to hold the winter session in December to ratify the final draft of the GST Bill sent by the Centre and it is not possible in Amaravati since there is no place to sit there yet.
So, Naidu is contemplating returning to Hyderabad Assembly building to complete the formality of holding the winter session.
It would mean making arrangements for not only all the staff but also to the MLAs. It is a sort of loss of face for Naidu to come to Hyderabad again.
Interestingly, Assembly Speaker Kodela Siva Prasada Rao, however, is said to be against returning to Hyderabad. He wants that if the building is not ready, the session could be held in any other conference hall, but not in Hyderabad.
For exciting updates on national affairs and up-to-date news click here on India Brains
