VIJAYAWADA: Welcoming the Supreme Court stay on the Andhra Pradesh High Court orders on Amaravati capital, YSRC general secretary Sajjala Ramakrishna Reddy said the apex court vindicated the stand of the State government on decentralised development.
Speaking to newsmen in Kurnool, he said the decision is a step towards Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy’s goal of achieving development of all regions. People are supporting Jagan’s decision of decentralisation.
“Development concentrated at a single region will not benefit the State and even the apex court has found fault with it. In fact, former chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu’s centralised development was the main reason for the defeat of his son Lokesh in Mangalagiri,” he observed.
He said even the Supreme Court found fault with the High Court’s decision to have the capital constructed at a single location. “The YSRC and the State government will respect the decisions of courts,” he asserted.
Speaking to mediapersons in New Delhi, Minister for Education Botcha Satyanarayana said the State government is committed to decentralisation and there is no scope for a U-turn on the issue. He said their government has asked the same questions, that were raised by the apex court today. The minister maintained that farmers, who gave lands for the capital, will be given developed plots and Amaravati will be developed as a legislative capital.
“What Naidu did as the CM was only to construct a couple of temporary buildings and spent `10,000 per sq ft. In fact, the administration can be run from anywhere in the State and all one has to see is whether it is happening properly or not,” he said and reiterated that the government is committed to three-capital proposal.
Minister for Water Resources Ambati Rambabu, Minister for Housing Jogi Ramesh and former minister Kurasala Kannababu welcomed the Supreme Court’s decision. They opined that it will help strengthen the resolve of the government to go for decentralisation.
“The Supreme Court comment that courts are not town planners should be taken seriously. I opine that courts should not interfere in the decisions regarding capital cities,” Ambati observed. Ramesh felt that State’s development is possible only with decentralisation, and every region will get the fruits of growth. “Naidu’s wrong step of concentrating development at one place, was corrected by Jagan,” he observed.