HYDERABAD: Leave alone making Vijayawada the permanent capital of Andhra Pradesh, Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu’s announcement that the city will be the temporary capital seems to have ruffled Rayalaseema leaders in his party — particularly his deputy KE Krishna Murthy — who expressed their anger at him for not setting up the capital in their region.
Days after Naidu made his intentions clear on establishing the new capital between Vijayawada and Guntur, Krishna Murthy and party Anantapur MP JC Diwakar Reddy on Tuesday openly disapproved of the proposal.
Speaking to reporters at the Assembly lobbies here on Tuesday, Krishna Murthy indirectly opposed Vijayawada being made the capital of the State. “With just 500 acres of government land available between Vijayawada and Guntur, it will not be possible to build a capital with international standards in that region”, he remarked. He continued his outburst, saying that setting up a temporary capital at Vijayawada did not mean that the permanent capital would also come up there.
KE attacks Narayana:
Finding fault with his ministerial colleague and Municipal Administration Minister P Narayana for promoting Vijayawada as the State capital, the Deputy Chief Minister said, “I don’t know why Narayana is repeatedly saying that Vijayawada will be the permanent capital. What he is saying is not authentic and official,” he pointed out.
He said the capital city should be centrally located with good infrastructure facilities and connectivity. However, he clarified that he was not asking the government to make Kurnool as the capital of the State. “There is no demand for capital in Rayalaseema. The government would take sufficient time before finalising the place for the new capital. There is no rush”, he said.
JC Joins Chorus
Meanwhile, Diwakar Reddy reiterated his earlier demand that the capital be located at Macherla in Guntur district. He said it would be an ideal location with sufficient lands available there.
According to him, Vijayawada is not only congested but also land value is much higher than Macherla.