It is unfortunate to witness the sudden turn of events, especially for the people of Andhra, after the painful bifurcation from which the State is in the process of recovering. If we take into account the history of Andhra, we have never had a permanent capital. After independence, we were a part of the Madras Presidency and had Madras as the capital. Several generations began their life there. We fought for our own state and after the formation of Andhra State in 1953, we moved to Kurnool. After Hyderabad was annexed from the Nizam province and Andhra Pradesh was formed, we thought Andhras will prosper together with Telangana, and agreed for Hyderabad to be the capital. For almost 60 years, we did prosper, but we had to start from scratch in 2014 when unceremoniously the erstwhile State was broken into two. We started moving on and building Amaravati as we were asked to leave immediately.
In November 1937, there was an agreement between Rayalaseema leaders and coastal Andhra leaders. It was called the Sribagh agreement or Sribagh Pact as it was entered into at the residence of Desoddharaka Kasinathuni Nageswara Rao, who ran Andhra Patrika and was the founder of Amrutanjan. When the Andhra agitation was underway, leaders of both the regions deliberated upon the conditions to be fulfilled if Rayalaseema was to cooperate with the coastal districts in the demand for an Andhra Province. The agreement was that if executive buildings were to be in Rayalaseema, the high court must be in coastal districts. Rayalaseema people wanted the capital in their region. So, when we were still a part of Madras State and the separate Andhra province fight was underway, Andhra Kesari Tanguturi Prakasam — who later became the first Chief Minister of Andhra State in 1953 — convened a meeting in the Madras Assembly with Telugu MLAs.
The MLAs agreed to the meeting because it was Tanguturi Prakasam who presided over it. In that meeting, where I was also present, it was decided that Rayalaseema would have the capital, as per the demand of the people. Rayalaseema people said as per the Sribagh Pact, they wanted the capital there. Accordingly, Kurnool was made the capital in 1953. As per the Pact, high court was established in Guntur. The then Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru had graced the inaugural of Andhra State. Incidentally, when we had become Andhra Pradesh, with Hyderabad and parts of Telangana in 1956, it was Nehru again who had come for the inaugural. Back then, I felt I was fortunate to have been a part of both the occasions. Now I am 88 and feel so sad to have seen these events.
Because, like vagabonds, even after six decades, we still don’t have a capital we can say is permanent and call it ours. The present State government proposes to relocate the executive capital to Visakhapatnam. There is nothing in Visakhapatnam. We have to start from scratch. It is distressing for the entire Telugu community. Will we be eternally building and demolishing a capital? What is the guarantee that Visakhapatnam will be the permanent capital? If it happens, I will have witnessed five capitals changing — Madras to Kurnool to Hyderabad to Amaravati to Visakhapatnam — with my own eyes. Nobody has asked for Visakhapatnam to be made the capital. I don’t recall a single statement demanding it. Though Visakhapatnam is a good city, it is at one end of the state.
On the one hand, we talk about preservation of Telugu and its identity and on the other, the very Telugu state identity (capital) is hanging in the balance. Though we know what the GN Rao Committee has recommended, we will have to await the outcome of the Boston Consulting Group (BCG), which is expected on January 3. Then, another committee, called the high-powered committee, will examine the recommendations of both the GN Rao Committee and the BCG, before announcing its decision. While that is expected to take three weeks at least, what is certain is that people of Amaravati are on the roads opposing the relocation. Decentralisation of governance is in no way related to decentralisation of development.
However, I welcome the decision to have the high court at Kurnool. And since Amaravati has been functioning as the capital, it is best to continue it here. It also satisfies the Sribagh Pact: If the high court is in Rayalaseema, executive buildings are in the coastal region. Because, changing the secretariat at this juncture — after officials and machinery have moved lock, stock, and barrel, and we are on our way to normalcy — will only create confusion especially if Assembly, Secretariat, and High Court are in three different locations.
PADMA SHRI TURLAPATI KUTUMBA RAO
veteran journalist and private secretary to the first CM of Andhra State, Tanguturi Prakasam Pantulu