VIJAYAWADA: For Andhra Pradesh, Thursday was a red-letter day. Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu inaugurated with a flourish the state-of-the-art Assembly and Council buildings on the premises of the Interim Government Complex at Velagapudi.
The inauguration of the new building symbolised the effort that has gone into it by the government which began reconstruction of the state brick by brick since the day of bifurcation of the State on June 2, 2014.
The budget session of the Assembly for 2017-18 will commence at the new buildings from March 6, marking shifting legislatures in toto from Hyderabad.
The swanky block housing the Assembly in the ground floor and Council on the first floor came up in an extent of two acres in a span of 192 days.
The new buildings are in fact temporary in nature since Chandrababu Naidu wants futuristic Amaravati to have Assembly and Council buildings too constructed in accordance with the designs drawn by the best of the architects in the world. In fact Foster and Partners are working now on the designs for developing the capital which includes the Assembly and Council buildings. The new buildings are expected to be completed by 2019.
There will be no mikes for the legislators to break in the heat of arguments in the new building inaugurated on Thursday since the officials replaced the conventional mikes with flexible stalks with a new system which comprises concealed mikes in the desks which are said to be unbreakable.
Another routine practice of the members storming into the well and obstructing the Speaker of Assembly from running the House will also be avoided in the new House as the Podium of Speaker is built at an elevation of seven feet.
The complex has a chamber for Chief Minister, where he can directly reach his seat in the Assembly. Besides Speaker of Assembly and Chairman of Council, chambers also have been allocated for the Leader of Opposition, Chief Whip and Whips.
The seating capacity of the Legislative Assembly is 230 and that of the council is 90. Though the number of elected representatives to Assembly is 176, additional seats were arranged to accommodate future additions as per the AP State Reorganisation Act.
After going round the building and sitting in his chair, the Chief Minister as leader of the House expressed satisfaction over the construction of the building with all facilities within a short span.
The Chief Minister signed the file relating to payment of Rs 50,000 to each MLA as an allowance since the government was not providing accommodation to them at Velagapudi during the time of the session.
Terming the occasion as a historic event, he said henceforth all the legislations will be made from the State itself with the relocation of Assembly and Council to the new capital city.
Recalling the way the State bifurcation bill was passed on the floor of Lok Sabha by the then Congress-led UPA government, Naidu said, "I was present in the Parliament on that fateful day and went into the chambers of BJP senior leader L K Advani and explained to him about the injustice being meted out to Andhra Pradesh by passing the bill unilaterally and urged him to take initiative to do justice to AP. By that time we got a slip containing the message that doors of Lok Sabha have been closed and the ground prepared for passage of the bill cutting the TV live telecast. Though, Advani walked inside the house, he could not avert the process."
Civil Aviation Minister P Ashok Gajapati Raju, AP Legislative Assembly Speaker Kodela Siva Prasada Rao, Council Chairman Chakrapani, Legislative Affairs Minister Yanamala Ramakrishnudu and others were present.
We are not invited, say YSRC leaders
With the YSRC members not attending the inauguration of the Legislative Houses, Naidu and Yanamala said, "We have extended invitations to the Opposition leaders too as it is a joyous occasion for the entire State."
Stating that the government is ready to take constructive suggestions from the Opposition parties, both Naidu and Yanamala, however, suggested the Opposition parties should cooperate with the government in ensuring meaningful debates for the welfare of the people instead of trying to make the Legislative Houses a platform for gaining political mileage.
Though, the government has been claiming that invitations have been extended to the YSRC, the Opposition leaders alleged that they did not receive any invitation.
Stating that the government did not send them an SMS or WhatsApp message, YSRC leaders Peddireddy Ramachandra Reddy and Ummareddy Venkateswarlu alleged that the government organised the event as a party event and was misleading the public regarding the absence of Opposition party without extending invitations.