Visakhapatnam will be Andhra’s capital, says Jagan. What happens to Amaravati and the 3-capitals plan?

The decision on picking a new capital has gone through several twists and turns over the years, and a matter that was listed for hearing in the Supreme Court on January 31 was ultimately not taken up.

Here’s what has happened so far.

First, what exactly did Chief Minister Reddy say?

Addressing investors at the International Diplomatic Alliance Meet in New Delhi, the Chief Minister Reddy said: “I am here to invite you to Visakhapatnam, which is going to be our capital in the days to come. I myself will be shifting there in the months to come. I am inviting you to the Global Investors Summit we are organising on March 3 and 4 at Visakhapatnam.”

So, what is the importance of this announcement?

This announcement is being seen as Jagan’s reiteration that he will go ahead with his plan for all-round development of Andhra Pradesh through decentralisation — and will establish three capitals for the state, each with a different purpose.

Jagan has proposed to make Amaravati — which the previous CM N Chandrababu Naidu had begun to develop as the state capital — the legislative capital, Visakhpatnam as the executive capital, and Kurnool as the judicial capital of the state.

In recent weeks, government Ministers and leaders of the Jagan’s YSRCP have been issuing statements in public meetings that decentralised development would continue, and that the government would start functioning from Visakhapatnam soon.

But hasn’t the government withdrawn the Bill to create three capitals?

Yes, it has indeed — but the idea of three capitals is far from being abandoned.

In January 2020, the Jagan government passed a Bill in the Assembly scrapping the Andhra Pradesh Capital Region Development Authority (APCRDA) Act, 2014 which had been passed by the previous TDP government, sealing the fate of Amaravati as the future capital of the state.

The Jagan government also passed the Andhra Pradesh Decentralisation and Inclusive Development of All Regions Act, 2020, which provided for three different capitals for the state.

Clause 7 of the Act said: “To enable a decentralised model of governance and to provide an inclusive governance in the State there shall be three (3) Seats of Governance in the State of Andhra Pradesh, to be called as ‘Capital(s)’.” The Act said Amaravati would be the “Legislative Capital”, Visakhapatnam the “Executive Capital”, and Kurnool the “Judicial Capital” of the state.

However, the Jagan government’s plan ran into difficulties.

Hundreds of farmers who had given up their land for the development of the capital city at Amaravati under the previous TDP regime, and who had organised themselves under the banner of the Rajdhani Rythu Parirakshana Samithi, filed petitions in the Andhra Pradesh High Court, challenging the government’s decentralisation decision.

Caught in legal tangles, the state government decided to scrap the decentralisation law in November 2021, with the Chief Minister stating in the Assembly that the government would introduce a “better” and “comprehensive” Bill after plugging the loopholes in the previous version. He did not mention any timeframe.

Despite the repealing of the three capitals Act, however, the Jagan government continued to propagate the decentralisation plan.

And what happens to Amaravati, which was supposed to be the capital?

On March 3, 2022, the Andhra Pradesh High Court, which had taken up the petitions of farmers who had given land for Amaravati, directed the state government to develop the (erstwhile) proposed capital as envisaged under the Capital Region Development Authority (CRDA) Act of the previous TDP government, and set a deadline of six months to develop the city.

The HC said the government should also develop the plots allocated to farmers in lieu of the agricultural land they had given up, and hand them back in three months, and that it must develop infrastructure facilities around the developed plots.

The order said that other plans too, such as the development of nine theme cities — knowledge city, health city, electronics city, tourism city, justice city, media city, sports city, finance city, and government city at Amaravati — as envisaged under the CRDA should be carried through.

What did the state government do after the order?

The state government made some lackadaisical efforts to develop the plots, but it went on to challenge the High Court’s order in the Supreme Court in September last year.

Former Chief Justice U U Lalit recused himself from the case, as he had given his opinion on the issue of bifurcation of Andhra Pradesh in 2013 before the Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Act, 2014 was passed.

On November 28, 2022, the SC frowned on the directions of the High Court, and put a stay on their implementation.

Justice K M Joseph said, “Direction 5 is completely unacceptable, that you develop the capital city in 6 months…What do you mean by capital city?” Live Law reported at the time.

Justice B V Nagarathna remarked, according to the Live Law report: “What kind of directions have the High Court passed? Can the High Court become a town planner and a chief engineer? The Court has no expertise in such matters, therefore we do not interfere. Without expertise…the High Court wants an entire city to come up in two months.”

The Bench sought responses from the Centre, the Andhra Pradesh government, and the Amravati Rajdhani Rythu Parirakshanan Samiti by the next date of hearing, January 31, 2023. The matter, however, was not taken up on January 31, and a fresh date will now be given.

“The matter was listed in the cause list for today, but hearing did not take place. A fresh date will be issued,” YSRCP MP V Vijay Sai Reddy told The Indian Express.

So what is the state government’s plan now?

While the matter awaits a final decision in the SC, the question of what happens to the farmers and the assets already developed at Amaravati remains open. Meanwhile, the state government has been pushing for its decentralisation plan, which was reflected in the CM’s statement on Visakhapatnam on January 31.

Ahead of the March 3-4 Global Investors Summit, nearly Rs 100 crore has been allocated to spruce up and beautify Visakhapatnam. The city will also host the G20 Summit Working Group Committee on March 28 and 29.

The CM and almost the entire government will be working from Visakhapatnam in March, and a base for the capital is likely to be set up in the city. YSRCP ministers are already scouting for office space and a proper office-cum-residence for Chief Minister Reddy.