VIJAYAWADA: At a time when opposition parties and Amaravati farmers’ JAC are knocking the Centre’s door to prevent the Jagan Mohan Reddy government from setting up executive capital in Visakhapatnam, the Union government on Tuesday made it clear that it is the State which has to decide on the location of the capital in its territory. “It is for the State to decide its capital within its territory,’’ the Ministry of Home Affairs stated in the Lok Sabha, indicating that the Centre will not intervene in the matter.
The observation by the MHA came as a shot in the arm for the YSRC government, which is going ahead with its plan to decentralise government by setting up legislative capital in Amaravati, executive capital in Visakhapatnam and judicial capital in Kurnool despite criticism from opposition parties.
Raising the issue in the Lok Sabha, TDP member Galla Jayadev sought to know whether the Centre has taken note of the decision of AP Chief Minister to set up three capitals and whether it will advise the State government not to resort to such move, which will not only vitiate the investment climate but also cause a huge loss to farmers of Amaravati, who gave their lands for the capital construction.
In his written reply, Union Minister of State for Home Affairs Nityanand Rai said, “The Government of Andhra Pradesh had notified Amaravati as the Capital City vide its GO dated April 23, 2015. Recently, media reports have appeared indicating the State government’s decision to create three capitals for AP. It is for each State to decide its capital within its territory.”
Inferring that the State government’s stand is vindicated, Municipal Administration and Urban Development Minister Botcha Satyanarayana asserted that the Centre said the same thing which is being expressed by YSRC regime.
He, however, refrained from making a comment on the statement of Nityanand Rai, who noted that Amaravati was notified as the capital city on April 23, 2015. Asked for his response to Nityanand Rai’s statement that Amaravati was notified on April 23, 2015, which contradicted the YSRC government’s claims, he said, “I am not going to contradict the Union Minister’s statement. I have clarified that there was no notification in the past. We also knew that the Centre did not mention Amaravati as the capital of AP in the redrawn political map of the country. We are also aware that TDP chief Chandrababu Naidu took credit for its addition in the political map after the TDP MPs spoke on the issue in Parliament. We saw all these things. What is new in it?”
Botcha launched a broadside at the TDP for referring the two Bills related to decentralisation of administration to select committees and noted that the State government also has discretionary powers just like the Chairman of Legislative Council. “The Chairman referred the Bills to the select committees going by the mood of the House and using his discretionary powers. If he has discretionary powers, we also have the same powers,” he said, adding that any ruling shall be within the Constitution.
Criticising Naidu for failing to protect the interests of the State on the Special Category Status issue, Botcha said the YSRC government submitted detailed proposals to the Centre seeking higher backward district compensation and it is yet to respond to it.
Tourism Minister Muttamsetti Srinivasa Rao said the government’s stand was vindicated with the MHA’s assertion.“It is now clear that the decision regarding the establishment of capital is under the purview of the State government and the Centre has nothing to intervene in the matter. While Chief Minister Jagan Mohan Reddy is striving for balanced development of all 13 districts of the State, Opposition Leader Naidu is creating chaos, demanding development of Amaravati alone,” he said.
CM writes to Modi on special status issue
Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy wrote a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday seeking his intervention in the special status issue in the wake of the submission of its interim report by the 15th Finance Commission, which has made it clear that recommending SCS to states is not within its powers and Union Minister of State for Finance made it clear in the Lok Sabha that the class of special category states ceased to exist. The Chief Minister urged Narendra Modi to look into the matter of according special status to Andhra Pradesh as there is definite inconsistency between the stand taken by the Finance Commission and Ministry of Finance on the issue of provision of SCS to states.